Redemption
by welcometofightclub
Summary: Every day, she woke up feeling sadness. She felt that dark cloud of depression follow her everywhere she went. The one day she didn't wake up feeling sad, she woke up being a survivor of Equestria's worst train accident in history. Was it destiny that she survived that crash? Is she destined for something more? And most importantly, will she accept the role destiny has offered her?
1. Prologue

**Hello yall, back again with another story. This will be my second story on the sight. First of all, I want to say that it's truly been awesome writing these things, and I have a lot of fun while doing them. But this one is going to be a little more serious and less humorous than my last story, so I will warn you all in advance, it's gonna get dark. But I digress. The main reason I'm writing this out is to say that this will be the only Author's Note I will have posted for this story. I find that these things take too long and take up too much of the writing. My fault completely, but I can't control it. So I just decided hell with notes and just simply give you the entire story, which is what you came here for right? No? A cookie? I don't have a cookie on me at the moment but I'll bake you one.**

**Again, I'm getting off subject. Basically, this story is based (if not entirely ripping off) the movie **_**Unbreakable. **_** You'd be doing yourself a favor by watching it. It's a very awesome, thought-provoking movie and in my opinion, it's the last good movie made before going completely bonkers. Seriously, if you're a comic books fan or a super hero fan, you'd be doing yourself a favor by watching that movie. **

**I'm not a Gilda/Big Mac shipper, but the premise of that shipping worked for the story, so it is in use. **

**So, enough of these author's notes. Lets jump right into this story shall we. **

**Here it is the prologue.**

* * *

When she was born into this world, she was brought in like any other baby. She was weeping, and sobbing, and screaming at the top of her newly formed lungs. But she was alive; oh sweet Celestia she was alive.

She was also destined for something big. At the time, no one knew what it was. But eventually, destiny was revealed to her and she accepted her role. Her acceptance allowed for another to finally gain their identity as well.

This is a story about those things. This is a story of destiny, identity, and anything else dealing with such topics. It is also a tragic story, and not for the faint of heart. But most importantly, it is a story dealing with redemption.

Like most stories dealing with destiny, it all began when she was born.

At 15 pounds, 22 inches, Twilight Sparkle was brought into the world shaking, wet, and screaming. Even when wrapped in the blanket provided by the doctors and nurses present, she still shook and she still screamed. It was the screaming that bothered her mother the most. She had already given birth to one boy and he didn't sound anything like Twilight when he came out of her belly. Then again, he was a boy, and Twilight Sparkle was a girl. But was there suppose to be a difference? She could remember clearly that Shinning Armor's newborn cries were not as…..ferocious. For some reason, when he cried on that day, she didn't' respond with panic, rather, with a sigh of relief. Why was it that she was getting nervous at her new baby crying?

Speaking of Shinning Armor, the colt rushed in just in time to see his mother grasping onto the baby. He immediately cried out "Mom," and rushed her with a hug.

The mother, weakened by the process of birth, replied in a whisper, "Baby, it's so good to see you."

Shinning gripped his mother tightly and for a few seconds, promised himself not to let go. Part of it was the initial response of a child telling his mom that he truly loved her. Another part of it was that Shinning Armor knew he wasn't going to hear the end of this. He was late. No question about it. In all actuality, it wasn't his fault. He tried making to the hospital once he got the news that his mother was in labor, but the training today was crucial, and if he were to have left early, his chances of becoming a royal guard would've substantially been lowered to almost nothing. He just hoped that the special guests would smooth things over with her.

Just as he was pulling away, his eyes caught a glimpse of her and automatically, he became frozen. His jaw was agape and his eyes went wide. It was not out of shock, but rather, it was out of the surreal nature of the moment that caused him to stare. Right in front of him, was the newest member of the family. So tiny, yet so important was she to his life now. There she was, so small and fragile, yet powerful in presence.

"Sweet Celestia," Armor exclaimed as he picked up his crying baby sister into his hoofs and rocked her gently. "She's beautiful," he proclaimed after a long bout of silence. He was content with holding her all day. She was, without a doubt, one of the coolest things he'd ever witnessed in his life.

As he sat there at the edge of his mother's bed, holding on to his newborn baby sister, he asked "where's dad?"

The mother laughed. "You know how your father is. It doesn't take much for him to get sick. The simple smell of rotten eggs would cause him to faint."

"So he just passed out while you were giving birth?" he inquired.

"Out like a light," she remarked, "Took out a couple of trays and doctor's with him too as well. He's in the hospital bed next to mine. Still unconscious, but everything looks ok."

"Sheesh," Shinning Armor stated. "You've been through a lot today. Now we got to add dad to the list of worries. I'm so sorry I couldn't make it in time."

"You're just fine baby," the mother retorted. "I'm just happy you came, that's all."

He smiled. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't have been able to make it here so quick if not for the help of some good friends. I brought them along, if that's ok."

The mother was confused. "I'm certainly fine if you're friends are over, but who's they?"

And that's when a voice emerged from the far side of the room. "Why, that would be me of course," the voice sang brightly.

The mother lifted her head to see the guest entering the hospital room, and immediately, her initial response was to scream; not out of fear, or joy, but just the shock that _she _was there among them. Her long flowing rainbow mane cascaded merrily across the room, moving although there was no wind. Her shinning white coat was much more beautiful seen in reality than it was imagined when hearing the passing gossip. The mother's jaw went slack, and she began to stutter as royalty made its way to her hospital bed.

"Princess Celestia?" the mother finally stated baffled. This could not be happening.

But it was. "You've got quite the son," she said with a smile. "When that drill sergeant said he wasn't allowed to leave basic to see you, he put up quite the fight. In fact, he ran all the way to my secrete corridors, just to find me. Needless to say, I sided with him on his argument, and when I realized that he would be late if he left by trolley, I let him ride with me on my chariot all the way down here."

The mother was shocked to hear all this, to say the least. What shocked her most was how her son was taken it. Either basic had gotten the best of him, or he had held back this relaxed state of mind for years just to wait for the perfect opportunity to put into use, but her son somehow treated the whole experience like it was nothing out of the ordinary.

He presented the baby towards Princess Celestia with a cocky smile. "Princess," he began, "Please let me introduce the newest member of our family; Miss…."

And that's when the horror struck him. He had just arrived at his mother's side to see the child and completely forgot to ask about her name.

Luckily for him, the mother supplied the answer. "Twilight Sparkle," she told the princess.

Princess Celestia eagerly accepted the baby and with her magic, kept the baby softly afloat. "What a beautiful name," the princess remarked.

Nothing could hide the blush that the mother tried so desperately to repress. "Thank you," she replied. There was a long moment of silence that followed. Princess Celestia just stood by the edge of the bed, holding the child close with its magic. She didn't know why, but she felt an immediate connection to this child.

After a few minutes of continuous rocking, the mother finally asked. "Can I have her back now?"

The princess smiled. "Getting clingy aren't we?" she asked in a tone of voice that carefully explained how she was only joking.

The mother weakly laughed in reply as she took the baby from the Princess's grasp. "Hey, I'm a mother her. I'm allowed to be as clingy as I want."

Princess Celestia chuckled in a reply. Suddenly the tables turned, and it was now the mother who sat in silent admiration as she rocked her frantically crying newborn child. It was the crying that eventually got to her. It became a sort of reminder of her fears. That crying kept pestering her as the moments went by. Finally, she couldn't get away from the fact that she was scared that something was wrong.

"Do they usually cry like this?" she asked the princess.

She shot the mother back a questioning look of confusion. "You certainly know the answer to this," she stated, motioning her head towards Shinning Armor.

The mother caught what point the princess was making. "He didn't sound anything like this."

Shinning was standing right by his mother side while and the princess talked. Neither one of them spoke as though he wasn't a part of the conversation. Hearing all these strange things about his new sister, it made him worry. And so, he decided that he should take action. Trotting along slowly from her bedside, Sinning Armor remarked, "I'll go get the doctor."

Princess Celestia stopped him. "It's perfectly fine. Allow me." Once again, the little baby foal was enveloped by her magic and brought closely to her face. "Being a Princess means you have to know a lot about the physical body/"

"Does it really?" Shinning Armor asked strictly out of curiosity.

"Indeed it does," The Princess said. "It would be much better for me to examine the baby actually." And so, that's what the princess did. She looked all around the hysterical child. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was just another newborn crying because it had entered this strange new world. But the princess did recognize why the mother was so worried. Even she, Princess Celestia, had not heard such vicious cry's coming from a child.

"I'm going to take the blanket off her, if that's ok?" The Princess asked. Shinning Armor and his Mother nodded their heads for her to continue.

With her magic, she slowly peeled the blanket off the child.

And that's when she gasped.

Being a mother, tired and drowsy from child birth, the one thing that can catch your attention in an instant, is to hear a gasp much like the one the princess produced. Shinning Armor was also taken aback by the Princess's outburst. Both of them anxiously asked "What?" three times.

She did not reply for a few moments. She simply just couldn't. All she could really do was just stare at the child; awed, bewildered, and frightened by what she saw.

Finally, after what felt like hours to Shinning Armor, the princess ordered, "Shinning, please find the doctor who helped during the delivery."

Immediately, the colt rushed out the room.

The mother, naturally, was frightened and nervous by what was happening. "What's going on?" she asked desperately to Princess Celestia as her voice started to crack.

"I'm not quite sure," The princess stated in a monotone voice of wonder as she continued to stare at the baby.

The mother tried urgently to get a glimpse of her child, but she was so weak that she couldn't move barley an inch within her hospital bed without feeling like she ran a marathon. It was agonizing both physically and emotionally. "Please, what's wrong with my baby?"

"I don't know," The Princess addressed the mother, trying her best to calm the increasingly frantic mare. "Once the doctor gets in, we'll find out for sure."

As if on cue, at that moment, Shinning Armor rushed back into the room, pushing the doctor towards his mother. "Found him," Shinning said.

The doctor, Dr. Rayband, shocked by the presence of royalty, immediately bowed in the princess's presence. She humbly, and quickly, accepted the bow and immediately closed the distance between them. "What can I do for you, your majesty?"

The princess levitated the baby towards the doctor, who immediately examined the child he was given. "Did you assist during the delivery?"

"Yes," the doctor responded.

"Did anything weird happen?" Princess Celestia asked, her voice registering a lower octave due to her increasing nervousness.

"It was just quick," the doctor replied as he tried to make sense of what the fuss was about. His head would shift back and forth between the princess, the baby, the mother, and then the boy. "She just came right out."

Then, Princess Celestia stated something that caught everyone's attention.

"Did you drop the baby?"

Immediately, the mother's head perked up, and both her and her son responded with a loud "What?"

"Good Grief no!" the doctor announced.

Princess Celestia showed looked over the child and then pointed at her one last time, emphasizing for the doctor to look. And it was during his second glance over, that he caught it. It caused him to gasp as well in shock. How could he have been so blind not to notice this?

"Oh My," he said in a breath. There was a slight pause as he looked up at Celestia's demanding eyes, and knew immediately what he had to do. "I'll alert the medical staff right away," and with that, he disappeared out the doors.

"Medical staff?" Shinning Armor repeated, flabbergasted by what he was hearing. "What the hay is going on?"

"Princess Celestia," the mother asked anxiously. "What's happening?"

It was then the two ponies saw a side of Princess Celestia that no one had ever seen. It was a side that revealed just how normal she was. It was a side that many would consider weak, but it was a side that had to be expressed, in order for the Princess to relate the dire situation calmly towards her new fellow guard and his mother.

"I never seen anything like it," The princess stated as she carefully gave the foal back to its mother. "Typically, a newborn foal sometimes experiences fractures during labor. But in order for her to receive as many fractures as she did, it would've had to have been prenatal. Either that, or I'm truly witnessing something horrifying."

The mother gripped her baby tightly. She madly ripped off that blanket the doctor's gave to wrap around the child. And then she screamed. Normal forelegs and back legs don't bend that way.

Armor, frightened by his mother's reaction, rushed over by her side and looked at his baby sister as well. He immediately caught a glimpse of what his mother was looking at. It made him sick. This was by far, the most dreadful moment in his life.

It was Celestia's voice, calm yet saddened, bland and yet drastic, which caused the tears to fall.

"All four of her limbs are completely shattered."

And the mother and the brother joined the baby in the hysterical weeping as well.


	2. Melancholy Sadness, Unscathed Occurence

**A/N: I know, I said I'd stop doing these, but I got a quick question. In the Friendship is Magic universe, do ponies have electricity, laptops, and phones? Please post the answer to this in the comments. It will help me out as a writer, a lot. Thank you. On with the show.**

* * *

She couldn't remember the last time she woke up without feeling that intense sadness. Every morning it was the same. Like clockwork, she ran her routine. Get up, go to work, eat lunch, go back to work, go home, go to bed. There was no fun, no joy, and everything she did was accompanied with a silent hatred and self-loathing. It had always been like this; even from the days when she was merely just a chick hatched from the egg. She has always carried this depression. It only grew stronger and heavier ever since the day she screamed at Dash's new friends. Why did she go do that? Why was she such an idiot? These were questions she would ask herself, when she would be in the corner of her small utilitarian hovel in Filydelphia, crying. Why was it that she felt she didn't belong?

She experienced melancholy and hatred. The hatred was pure, and aimed only at the thing she saw when looking into the mirror. This self-hatred had accompanied her for a long time. It was a hatred that followed her for miles; a hatred that made her stagger; a hatred that was unpolluted with friendship, because in the end, she had only one friend, and she had to go and screw that up. When confronted with the prospect of someone else entering in, she retaliated. If she could have only opened her eyes just a bit more, she would have discovered that instead of losing a friend, she would be gaining another. Now, she was all alone, with no one to blame but herself. She didn't knock it, she only accepted it, and it made that morning sadness, that feeling of misplacement, stronger. In her head she was not doing what she should be doing. But she didn't know what exactly it was she was supposed to do.

She was lost and alone in the world, and she realized that she had to do something about it.

She found herself at the far end of the spectrum one night when she was moments away from ending her life. She could still remember the feel of the blade in her hands, held just above one of her wrists. She remembered the taste of vomit in her mouth from where she threw up do to nerves. She remembered the tears streaking wildly down her face, yet her expression was stone-cold. She did not make a single noise. She only stared at herself in the mirror, holding that knife only a few centimeters away from her veins. All the while, she remembered a voice, clear as day yet dark as night, telling her to do it; to pull that cutting edge across her skin, and end it all: slowly feel herself slip away and enter nirvana.

That was when she decided that enough was enough. She tossed the blade away and cried for several more hours. She crouched in the corner of the room and screamed until her throat was raw. Neighbors in the apartment next door had just come home from the grocery store, and in concern, called the cops. Gilda did her best to shoo the guards away politely, and eventually, after some smiles, questions, and coffee, they left. Gilda remembered turning to the mirror, and saying these words to herself.

"You're going back to Ponyville, and you're apologizing to Dash."

And that was all she could remember up to this point. Right now, everything seemed blank. She could only make out the fact that today, she did not feel sadness. She didn't even feel hatred. In normal circumstances, this would've surprised and enlightened the poor griffon, and she would've had a good day today. Only problem was, these were not normal circumstances.

For one thing, she could make out the coherent sound of motorized beeping. Secondly, these bed sheets were not her own. They were soft, yet stale and sterile. They almost seemed mediocre. She had been in an emergency room once before, and was able to make out two and two easily. Still however, when she came to, she bolted upright in her hospital bed, and screeched. It wasn't out of fear, but it was more out of shock. She knew vaguely where she was; a hospital. But she didn't know the details, and most importantly, she had no clue exactly as to how she got there.

She gripped the sheets tightly and pulled them around herself. She was filled with anxiety and bewilderment. When the voice from the doorway piped up, she jolted instantly out of fear.

"Well, Good Morning," the doctor stated.

Gilda turned to look and analyzed the pony. He was a tall, handsome, slender yet strong pony as presented through his posture and stance. He had a brown mane, glasses, and a golden tan coat. He trotted slowly towards her bed, and pulled out a chair. He sat down right in front of her, and that's when the accusations began.

"Who are you?" she shouted in fear and alarm. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

"My name," the doctor began. "Is Doctor Rayband. As to what exactly is going on, I believe I should be asking you that question."

Gilda shot the pony a bewildering look. It was a mixture of confusion and hatred. As if she was saying 'shut the buck up, and tell me what's happening.'

"We found your body at the edge of the crash site," the doctor explained.

This confused Gilda even greater. "Crash Site?" she shouted in amazement.

The doctor nodded his head. "Train 411 from Filydelphia to Ponyville suffered massive technical malfunctions and derailed, killing all the passengers," he stated calmly. It astounded Gilda how this doctor could be so smooth in handling death. But then again, he was a doctor. Years of experience and training were a factor to consider. As a doctor, he's seen death hundreds of time, and he just learned to move on from it. The doctor continued his story. "The first responders found your body in the woods. We took you end and basically, that's it. You have to fill in the blanks."

The doctor pulled up his clipboard and placed the pen in his mouth. Being an earth pony, the doctors of this way of life learned to cope without magic to assist their writing, and instead, learned to place a pen in their mouth and talk around it. When he spoke, it was comprehensible at best. "Now, we don't need your name and date of birth. You had your medical records faxed in from Filydelphia. All we need to know is how you ended up out in the woods; if you can remember."

She sat upright in her hospital bed for a long time. Time seemed to slow down. Trying to process all the information was like trying to take the Canterlot Castle and shove in into one's closet. It didn't fit, it didn't add up. She couldn't remember anything. But after awhile, she started receiving a massive headache. Bits and pieces of information started to come to the forefront of her cranium; all of it centered on that particular train.

"The 411 train…..Ponyville," Gilda mumbled to herself. "Why do these things seem so familiar?"

The doctor, knowing how amnesia patients worked, tried to assist Gilda in developing her memories. "Is there someone you know who's from Ponyville?"

And that's when it hit her. The light of newly formed memories was bright and blinding. It filled her skull and cascaded past her eyelids making her see a spectrum of colors. It was too much to handle, so she almost passed out. Instead, she screamed once more. For the reality of the situation frightened her. The doctor came to her side, asking sincerely, "Gilda, Gilda, what's wrong?"

"I was on the train," she told him. And then she began to recount her story.

* * *

She stared out the window of the train as it began to take off. She stared out the window for a very long time. It was a 2 hour ride to Ponyville and she had been staring out the window, doing nothing, for almost an hour and a half. Then, finally, she had to talk among the passengers, when a stallion asked her if he could sit in the seat beside her. Apparently, only a few seats on the train sported an electrical outlet, and the stallion was in dire need of using his laptop, which was low on battery life. "Business related," the passenger politely informed her.

Gilda, silently, nodded her head and turned back to the window as the passenger got his laptop set up. She had a lot on her mind, and it had consciously been floating around and pestering Gilda for the past hour and a half. She was simply stressed, and filled with concerns. The biggest concern she was facing involved Dash. She knew she was going to apologize to her, but what then? What comes after that? The more she played it out, the more she realized she was probably facing rejection.

She turned towards the passenger sitting on her right, and scanned him quickly. He seemed cute. He had a gray coat with a thick, black mane. He sported glasses which glistened in a strange way when staring down at the laptop. She could also make out the fact that he was unicorn, as he was using his magic to type. Gilda also noticed that, although cute from the neck up, he was hunky all the way down. He sported some good muscle mass, not too much to give off the impression that he was into weightlifting, but Gilda knew this man was taking care of his bod.

And right now, in the midst of her stress, all she thought about was curling up next to that bod.

They say sex is the best stress reliever.

All Gilda needed was something to break the ice. There wasn't necessary tension per say, but even a Neanderthal such as Gilda knew there were ways to properly conduct oneself in public. She found her icebreaker in the back of the seat in front of her. A couple of magazines were in the pocket for one to enjoy for the time being. Gilda took another look at the unicorn. Although he was typing, it seemed the magic was doing all the work for him, as proven by his uninterested facial expression. Gilda tapped him politely on the shoulder, and he turned to face her.

"Do you need a magazine or something?" she asked. Her mind retaliated. 'Smooth Gilda. Real Smooth.'

When suddenly, it actually worked. "Yeah, can you hand me the sports magazine," the stallion replied. "I think I might need it."

Gilda spoke as she handed the magazine to him. "Business related?" she inquired.

"Why yes actually," he stated, giving her his full attention. Just as Gilda theorized, the magic continued the typing while he spoke. "You see, I'm a manager of sports athletes."

"Really," Gilda asked, very interested. "What does that entail?"

"I basically work for this college down in Fillydelphia," he explained. "I take colts and fillies when there in high school and basically plead for the to join our athletic program. If they sign with us, I get a hefty amount of bits. However, I also work on the professional end, and that's a bit different."

"How so?" Gilda requested.

"Basically, no matter who they are signed to, if my name comes up and they want me to be their manager, I get them advertising and sponsors; Cereal commercials, horse-shoe ads, the whole shebang." The stallion answered.

Amidst all that explanation, Gilda found a way to bring humor into the situation. "Why, it just so happens that I'm a professional athlete," Gilda said, setting up the joke.

"Really," the stallion said as his brows cocked in surprise. "In what field?"

The punch line: "I'm a distance swimmer," Gilda stated.

It worked. The unicorn gave forth a pretty decent chuckle. Gilda continued the joke for just a bit more.

"Yeah, I have a natural fear of water though," she said, to which the stallion continued laughing. "Think that's gonna be a problem?"

"Not if I'm your manager," The stallion proclaimed. Gilda smiled decently. It was hard to actually smile when no real amount of happiness was left in her body, but it did the job. The stallion returned the smile and went back to his business. Gilda then held out her talon.

"I'm Gilda," she told him.

The Stallion smiled and returned the gesture. "I'm Francis," he said.

Gilda realized at that moment, that she only had to smooth things over just a bit more, and then she could start quote unquote easing the tension. She started with a simple, yet very lucrative question that had been spoken thousands of time before on multiple pickups.

"So, how long are you going to be in Ponyville," she asked with the utmost sincerity in her voice.

The stallion sighed. Gilda immediately caught the emotion behind his sudden release of air; disappointment. He scooted his mane back just a bit, and that's when she finally saw it. He wore a golden necklace with a green emerald in the center, implying that he belonged to another.

"I'm engaged," he told her.

Gilda played it off like it was no big deal. "Great," she replied trying to sound happy.

The stallion sighed again, and reached over to unplug his laptop. "I'm sorry," he told her.

"Don't be," Gilda answered. She started to stutter as she realized her opportunity was slowly fading away. "No….l-look. You just misinterpreted what I said. Wh-wh-what I m-m-meant was-"

He politely cut her off. He wasn't being mean; he was just in no mood to play games. "I gotta go," he told her. And with that, he began to trot away.

"No-look," Gilda tried desperately. "I just…."

Her voice got stuck in her throat as he trotted away. Slowly, her emotions and persistence died down. She realized that she lost this time. She sat back down in her seat with a huff. She was disappointed; somewhat. But then again, what good would it have done even if she slept with him. It didn't change the fact that in 30 minutes, Gilda would be back in Ponyville, and she had no clue how the citizens, with the most important being Rainbow Dash, would treat her.

She placed her head back on the window. She was going to try and sleep, but her mind wouldn't let her. She had been getting another one of those strange headaches again. They were very odd headaches in deed. She would hear a light ringing sound in her ears and then images would flash across her mind for a split second. They were so small and so minute, that she realized they were imaginary. But they seemed so crystal clear, that the Griffon feared she would be hallucinating from time to time. This time, the sights she was seeing inside her skull scared her for a brief moment. She saw the damaged remains of train tracks, and amongst this image, she could make out the faint sound of someone screaming.

And then it was over. It would only last a second. But it was its lasting impression that had its impact on Gilda's soul. She sat in her chair, motionless for quite some time, breathing heavily.

And then, she realized that something was out of the ordinary. She couldn't really make out what it was at first, but she realized that something was wrong. The she looked up ahead at the passengers seated in front of her, and that's when she caught the sight of them gripping the arms of their chairs tightly. Gilda wasn't wrong. This train was shaking; rocking even. Trains had turbulence, she was aware of that, but nothing like this. It was getting violent. She felt as though she was in a rock polisher.

And then she felt weightless. The world around her turned white. She had no clue what was going on, and neither did the rest of the passengers. All she knew was that with her luck, this wasn't going to be good for anypony. She could make out the faintest sound of that earlier scream, before the whiteness enveloped her.

* * *

"And that's all I remember," she told the doctor. She had been facing away from him as she told the story. It was best for her not to look at any faces when trying to piece together memories. She found it quite distracting. But now, she had everything firmly in place in her head. As un-pretty as it was, there was no denying that Gilda was in the passenger area when the trained crashed.

She turned to look at the doctor, and realized that he was staring. She was somewhat accustomed to stares like the one he was giving off. Being a Griffon and living in a populated area much like Filydelphia, she had gotten use to the fact that she wasn't a commodity. Some ponies would stare simply out of sheer wonder. It sucked, but she had gotten use to it. But the stare the doctor gave off was quite different. For one thing, his stare had some intensity by it and two, his jaw was slack, giving forth a dumbfound impression.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she finally asked the doctor.

The doctor, slowly got up from his chair, closed his jaw, and proceeded to blow Gilda's mind.

"Your train derailed," Rayband told her. "It didn't hit a car, it didn't lose a couple of train cars in the back, it derailed!" he walked around to the other side of Gilda's bed, and gripped the curtain separating Gilda's bed from the other bed. Gilda's eyes watched the colt closely. "The unicorn you were describing ended up like this."

When he pulled the curtain away, Gilda swore she heard a gasp get ripped out of her throat before her talons covered her beak. Whoever was in that bed, couldn't have been a pony. For one thing, Ponies shouldn't be covered up with so much gauze that they resembled a mummy. Secondly, she had never seen so many tubes, coming from one being.

"The doctors did everything they could to save him," he told her as he stared at the patient. "But the entire left side of his body was crushed like a tin can," he stated morbidly. "There's no way he will live."

Then, he closed the curtain and looked Gilda directly in the eyes. "So, as to answer your question, there are two reasons I'm looking at you strangely." He got close to her bed, making sure that each emphasize he added to his words had meaning. "one, in about 5 minutes, you will be the sole survivor of this crash. And two, you are…..miraculously unharmed. There isn't a broken bone, no bruises…..you don't have a scratch on ya."

It didn't take long for the words to settle in, but the weight behind their meaning boggled Gilda's mind badly. That unicorn she spoke to earlier looked tangled and messed up beyond repair. She however…..she felt find. She looked down and examined her body. 'He's right,' she thought horrifically. 'There's not even a scratch on me.'

There was some much needed silence between the two as Gilda analyzed herself in a mystical fashion. She looked as though this was her first time in a griffon body. The doctor, although fascinated watching Gilda's psychological action in a medical sense, didn't allow his curiosity to get the better of him. He spoke low, and calmly, and asked her a serious question.

"Do you have a place to stay, a friend or someone to call?" the doctor questioned.

Gilda, shocked, looking miserable, held her face down to her knee's and shook her head, 'no.'

The doctor sighed and got up and away from the bed. He asked her politely to get up and follow him. She did so, and was led right to the front desk. He asked if he could see the patients release papers, and the nurse behind the desk gladly gave them up. He gave the papers to her and as she signed away, the doctor explained his proposition.

"Your name was dropped when the media asked for any survivors," he calmly told her. "Seeing as how there is a colossal storm of paparazzi outside just waiting to snag a photo of you, I'm going to sneak you out back. Then, I'll take you to whatever hotel you like, and pay for your room and additional costs for however long it takes you to get back on your feet."

Gilda was finished with the papers by the time he finished his offer. She stared at him, flabbergasted. "Why?" she asked, breathless.

"For one thing," he began. "It's the right thing to do. Secondly…..I don't think you were supposed to survive that crash. I know what you're thinking, 'no duh,' but hear me out. Luck has nothing to do with surviving a crash like that and not getting a scratch on you. I have no other evidence to back up this claim but…..Gilda…..I think you're destined for something big. What that is? I don't know. But I feel that by helping you, I'll become part of that 'something big.' Is that ok?"

The griffon nodded her head. The Doctor sighed and took her wing in his tail as he escorted her out the door. She watched as her talons and legs slowly made their ways across the linoleum tiled floors. Only one thought rang in her mind.

"What is this….destiny?"


	3. Arrangements

Unfortunately for Gilda, she was not able to reach the hotel in time for her to avoid the press. Somehow, possibly through tapped phones (which was highly illegal, considering Princess Celestia's media laws against slander, libel, and personal privacy), a few media dogs received word of the hotel she would be staying in for her time in Ponyville. The doctor made the arrangements ahead of time through magic lettering transportation, but nothing was signified until Gilda signed the papers at the front desk. When Gilda and the doctor caught a glimpse of the paparazzi outside the hotel, they tried their hand at sneaking around the back entrance. However, that still did not stop the paparazzi from recognizing her at the front desk. Even in her get up (a poncho, provided for by the doctor due to the incredible rain happening that day) someone was able to see Gilda's signature beak, tail, and feathers. As she was signing the papers, she heard someone shout "Gilda!" as an autonomic reaction, she turned to greet whoever called her name. She was welcomed with a flashbulb to the face.

Before she could even comprehend what had happened, her picture of her at the front desk, miserable, wet, and shocked, was blasted throughout all the TV news programs and newspapers of Equestria. Stories began like wildfire. If anyone was linked to it, they became media stars over night. Even the doctor was placed on the spot, and unfortunately, in some circumstances, was linked as her lover. This was disproven almost immediately, for the doctor was married and had three children. But it didn't matter. At the rate the story was being flung around, overnight, everyone knew who Gilda was and where she was staying.

But as for Rainbow Dash, she had no time for TV. She was too busy with her morning workout routine to flip on the television or grab an early copy of the newspaper. Imagined how shocked she was to find several reporters outside her door, and how one of the first questions out of their mouths was "Are you related to Gilda Griffon?"

Her response contained that tomboyish charm. "Who's asking?" she replied.

One of the reporters introduced themselves and explained that Gilda was the sole survivor of the 411 train crash on route to Ponyville and that she was miraculously unharmed; to which Rainbow Dash responded, "…..she came back?" and then it hit her. "Sweet Celestia….she's back!"

* * *

When Gilda awoke the next day, in her hotel bed, she realized that the pillow under her was wet with tears from the previous night before. She couldn't remember much, except that she had passed out crying last night. She of course remembered the generous doctor, and made a mental note to repay him somehow, someway.

But something big was troubling her. She still _did not _feel that intense burning sadness. She of course, felt tired, like most do when waking from a night of sleeping in and intense anxiety. But she did not feel that depression, that emptiness, like she usually did when waking up. It felt odd, feeling tired, yet comfortable waking up. It felt like that whatever that was going to happen today, it was all meant to be, that she somehow was finally honing in on her calling, that mysterious destiny the doctor referred to.

She left the bed, and showered in silence. She stayed in the shower for what seemed like forever. Actually, it was only about 15 minutes. She just stood there, one talon placing itself onto the wall to balance her as she stood up on her back legs. She simply let the water wash over her. She didn't even bother using shampoo. She simply just wanted to feel what it would be like standing out in the rain today; cold, bleak, and hopeless, yet feeling confused.

She decided what she really needed, was a drink, to help her get her mind off of things. On top of that, she also had to consider what was going to happen next. She had been fired from her job two days before she decided to return from Ponyville. Her wallet had been lost in the train fire, apparently. She was alone, in a hotel room being paid for by a very generous stranger, with no money, no way to call her friends, and surrounded by thousands of ponies wanting to take her picture. She couldn't necessarily live in the hotel for the rest of her life. She had to find a place to stay. She had to find a quick way to get money fast to get back home. Then she had to find a job to keep paying off the rent on her apartment back in Filidelphia. How could she do it? Where could she stay? Did she even want to go back? What if it was Filidelphia that was causing her inner turmoil? All these questions, along with her newfound sense of belonging which felt increasingly awkward, persuaded herself to dawn a hoodie to disguise herself, and head on down to the hotel bar, to numb the pain with the finest Vodka she could buy. After all, the charitable doctor was paying for it. She deviously smiled when this thought entered her head. It was so wrong, and yet…..so right; just like the old days.

But that got her thinking about Rainbow Dash, and then that got her thinking about her upcoming apology. She still felt that in her heart, she would be rejected by her once truest friend. But before she could even apologize to Dash, she had to find her.

It seemed as if though fate where to have its special way with Gilda. She would not find Rainbow Dash and her friends. Au contraire me frere. They would find her.

It happened at the hotel bar, approximately an hour after Gilda left her room. She had been causally sipping her alcoholic beverage, watching the ponies interact in the hotel lobby. It was a strange sight. She found that observation of social interactions was fascinating. Some ponies, like her, moved with their head hung low, their speech condensed, trying to avoid conversation. She felt like reaching out and lending a hand; being a comforting soul who had once before been in that line of battle. Other times, some ponies were just too busy to talk. The ordered their food, ate and left. Of course there were couples, parents, children, and many others to witness. But at one point, her observation got sidetracked when she felt somepony sit down to the bar stool right next to her.

Her peripheral vision caught the neon blue fur and rainbow mane.

She was frozen solid. Gilda didn't know why, but as soon as Rainbow Dash sat down right next to her, she tried to avoid her. She kept her eyes glancing the other way. The talon gripped the glass tightly. She was under so much pressure, to keep herself from being noticed. Maybe it was just her conscience trying to keep the eventual confrontation from happening. The more time she had not being rejected, the better.

Ironically enough, Rainbow Dash was completely oblivious to Gilda's presence right next her. Even her friends, the mane six (now five), as they grouped around her, were blind by the hooded griffon close by. The conversation between the friends was very revealing, and perked Gilda's attention immediately.

"It's useless," Rainbow Dash sighed. The sighed transformed into a groan as she leaned her neck back and faced the ceiling. "We can't find her anywhere."

"This should be the place," The orange one proclaimed. Gilda had a hard time figuring out what her name was. She was a farm pony, so her rational guess was that her name dealt with oranges.

"The Hooftin hotel chain is very glamorous," stated the egotistical white one with the purple mane. "Just look at the marvelous chandelier on the ceiling." Gilda unconsciously looked up for about a quarter of a second to notice the chandelier. Yeah, it was nice. She looked back down. "Don't you agree Applejack?" The purple mane one continued.

"Uh yeah Rarity, now's not the time to think about high decorating standards, if you don't mind me being so bold," Applejack stated. As the names were being tossed around, Gilda began adding them into her head, and pairing them with each individual. She knew Dash. The orange one was apparently Applejack which caused her to chuckle mentally for that totally went against the orange farmer assumption. The white one was Rarity.

"Yeah, we need to find that big meanie!" The pink twerp said with her overly high and squeaky voice.

Dash groaned as she held a hoof to her temple, looking like she was experiencing a bad headache. "Pinkie Pie," Dash stated. "You really need to lay off Gilda."

Ok, so the pink twerp was coincidently named Pinkie Pie. She remembered now.

"Uh….if-if-if you don't mind me asking….. I mean- I don't want to be mean…or….anything…you know…. It-it-'s just….wh-wh-why sh-should we? I mean-she was very rude to us last time." This came softly from the yellow pony with the long pink mane.

"Well, for one thing Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash retorted as Gilda placed the name into her conscience. "There are a lot of things that you don't know about Gilda that I know. I was Gilda's roommate for the flight academy and I can tell you that she did a lot of good things for me. She's not a bad person…..she's just…..confused. That's all."

"Ok," Applejack asked Dash inquisitively with a glaring eye. "Name one thing that we don't know about Gilda that you know."

This enticed Gilda. She had thousands of things she could list off, but she still resorted to keeping her peak shut. She was quite interested in how this scenario would play out. What would Dash use to defend Gilda.

Rainbow Dash, looking at her friends square in the face, retorted with vigor, slowly yet quietly, "She saved my life."

An intense shroud of silence immediately surrounded them. A pin could've been dropped a mile away and all of the girl's could've picked it up. Gilda, out of all of them, was on the edge of her seat the most. She knew exactly what Dash was referring to, and felt that if she didn't leave soon, she would burst. But she couldn't leave. She felt like she was sucked into some kind of strange tractor beam.

Rarity was the one who broke the silence. "Saved your life? What in Equestria's name are you talking about?"

And finally, Gilda could hold it in no longer. She didn't shout it, she didn't yell it, but she got close to doing so in volume range. "The Cart Accident."

Rainbow Dash turned her head to face the stranger who piped in. When she recognized Gilda, she became powerfully silent as her eyes grew wide. Applejack's, Pinkie Pie's, and Rarity's jaw could've touched the floor. Fluttershy was somehow able to hang her head lower than it already was.

Gilda felt stupid for speaking out. But there was no going back. She had to tell them now. But first, she needed to finish the story. Breathing out heavily, once she turned around and wiped the crust from her eyes, she began to do so. She spoke calm, with reserve, but the fervor of her words were so powerful, that it left the ponies even more shocked and amazed than they were when they realized that Gilda was right next to them.

Gilda was silent, trying her best to say the story in the best possible way. Then, she told it like it was. "During our last year in the flight school, me and Dash went to this bon fire out near Everfree forest." She did her best to describe the scene. She also did not forget to mention that she was on the varsity stormball team, and so it was almost required for her to attend and to bring along a friend. "Some hard liquored Cider was passed around, so were other beverages and…substances. We basically left the place in no condition to drive, so we called a cab."

Now came the hard part. She involuntarily gulped before she spoke up again.

"Apparently the driver was able to resist our feminine wails, asking for him to go faster. Cause he did, right up until he smacked that tree, killing himself upon impact. As for me, last thing I remembered was being thrown from the cart through the windshield…..when I came to…at-at the hospital….I found out that Dash wasn't thrown to the cart be-because I…..coaxed her into putting her seatbelt on before we asked the driver to go faster….and the sad part is…I don't even remember doing it…"

Her eyes were becoming shrink-wrapped with tears, and Dash noticed them when Gilda turned to face her.

"I saved you life," Gilda stated. "and I don't even remember doing it…..I'm a…..I'm a terrible-"

Dash stopped her before she could even finish. "NO!" she proclaimed, pointing. "You were never a terrible friend…..you were always one of my best friends…..and although you can't recall that night…..I will forever. And I have no one but you to thank."

A silence fell amongst them once more. This time, it was Pinkie who came with the outburst.

"Well….this is awkward," she said.

"Listen," Gilda stated articulately. "I came back here to apologize, but there's so much more I need to tell ya. I can't do it here because…..it's….I just can't do it here. But if we walk out that front door, the paparazzi will swarm us like parasprites."

The logical solution was to head back to Gilda's room. But after Gilda explained the doctor situation, they understood why she probably wanted to get out of the good stallion's hair. Gilda stated the obvious after that when she asked, "Is there any place we can go that's more…private?"

* * *

Using the Hotel's telephone, Applejack arranged for her brother to pick them up by the back of the hotel and take them to the farm. Being from the country, Applejack realized they would have all the privacy they would need. It was a bit of a long trip, but it shouldn't be any more than 30 minutes tops. The down side effect was ever since the passing of Granny Smith some two years ago, Applebloom always had to be watched over by Big Mac. So, evidently, Applebloom was coming along too. The 5 ponies laughed amongst themselves knowing that she would be in for a surprise once she would catch sight of Gilda. The Griffon only smirked in shrugged.

However, she was in for a surprise to. For she had never met Applejack's brother. She heard in passing from the 5 that he was a strong stallion, and Rarity added a handsome one at that. However, at the time, Gilda really didn't care. As long as he was bringing a ride, he was alright in her book.

Once he did arrive, carrying the cart behind his back, Gilda was spellbound.

After staring at the muscular pony for quite some time, she realized that the only words floating by her brain were 'hubba hubba.' She also realized that someone in return was looking at her. She turned to find Rainbow Dash with the biggest smirk on her face.

"What?" Gilda asked somewhat defensively.

"I've seen that look before," Rainbow Dash teased.

Gilda began to blush and look away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You totally want to jump Big Mac's bones," Dash coaxed.

"I do not!" Gilda returned like a small school filly denying a playground crush.

"Yeah you do," Dash slowly drew out humorously.

Gilda was never one for throwing on masks. And so, her façade broke, and with a small grin, she admitted, "Ok. Maybe a little."

Suddenly, a new voice piped in, and apparently, it came from the ground. "WOW!"

Both Gilda and Rainbow Dash looked down to notice a yellow pony with a red mane and bright red bow on her head. Rainbow Dash immediately recognized her as Applebloom. Gilda made the connection from the news given to her earlier by Applejack. She saw the family resemblance, and she could practically hear it in that thick southern accent.

Applebloom was awestruck. She just stared right up at Gilda, with bright eyes and a gaped open mouth. "You're tall….you must play basketball!"

Gilda chuckled. The kid was, actually kind of cute. "Stormball kid but…..close. It's almost like basketball. Actually, I'm trying to be a distance swimmer."

This left Applebloom confused, as she proceeded to show Gilda a face that a dog would show when shown a card trick. Rainbow Dash just started laughing. Gilda turned to the cyan blue pony and nudged her side with her elbow, finishing the joke. "I have a natural fear of water though. I think that might be the problem."

The two joined the rest of the ponies on the back of the wagon, altogether laughing. To Gilda it felt…..nostalgic; reminiscent of the old days back at flight school, where the two would stay up half the night just talking and cracking jokes, trying to get the other one to stay up longer. Those were the days. Her sadness was with her then, but with Dash, that sadness seemed almost distant; null and void due to their friendship.

* * *

It was about halfway home that Gilda realized something. She decided to bring it up, even though it seemed like she would be stating the obvious.

"Hey…aren't there suppose to be six of you guys including Dash?" Gilda asked curiously.

Coldness overwhelmed them all. Dread was in the faces of everypony on that wagon. A mournful silence encapsulated them and Gilda realized that she must've said something terribly wrong. A sniffle was heard and everyone turned to their left to see Pinkie trying to hold back the tears. It didn't work out. Big Mac stopped the cart and Pinkie hopped off the back and began to weep deeply and bitterly. Fluttershy came to her side to consol her.

Applejack watched the situation with that same somber loss that was happening within Pinkie's heart. She turned to see Gilda, utterly flabbergasted. The pony sighed, and then explained.

"It's ok….you didn't know," Applejack grew silent and looked away for a while, feeling sorrowful and sadden by the fact that she vicariously had to relive the experience of the loss by telling Gilda about it. "You see…Twilight Sparkle was our sixth friend…she's…..she's been gone for quite a while…"

"…dead?" Gilda supplied.

"Well….we don't know," Applejack stated. "She's been missing for the past 4 years…ever since….ever since she went to the hospital…she….she uh….she tried to kill herself. ….Spike, her assistant found her in the corner of the library bleeding out. She was fixed just in time only to talk to Princess Celestia for a bit…..which we never got to see. And then, the next day, she was gone. The papers were signed and we haven't seen her since."

Gilda was extremely shocked about all the information she received; even more so, realizing that she would be providing an almost similarly darker story to the 5 once they arrived at the barn.

"I probably shouldn't tell you my story once we reach the barn then," Gilda said.

Applejack shot her a look of confusion. "And why's that?"

* * *

Once they were in the barn, Gilda told them everything. She told them about the intense sadness she had experienced all her life, even during flight school. She told them about the neglectful mother and the abusive drunken father she grew up with, and how after once incident in which she was tied to a bed post and beaten half to death, she was taken away and placed into foster care. She talked about the many nights in that orphanage when she thought about ending it all. She talked about how at flight school, when she met Dash, how that darkness, that sadness, got demised to almost nothing. She talked about getting her security guard job back home, and how she would only look forward to the days her and Dash would hang out. She talked about the fear she experienced when she realized Dash had more friends. She talked about how she was afraid she would be all alone again, and how that darkness would come back. She told them that this was not meant to justify her actions. She told them how she was wrong. She told them about that night before coming back, holding the blade close to her skin. And most importantly, she told them that she was sorry, so sorry, and super sorry over and over again.

Once Gilda was finished, Rainbow Dash, knowing Gilda, realized that there was only one thing left unsaid. "What now?"

"I don't know," Gilda stated as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I mean, I know that the apartment isn't fully paid off but….honestly…..I really don't want to go back."

"Why's that?" Rarity asked.

"It's just…." Gilda tried to explain as best as she could. "It's just that, for the past two days, although the circumstances have been extremely odd, I…..haven't felt the….emptiness. I don't know if it was the city causing it…..or if being here with you guys is the cure for it. But regardless, I don't think I want to go back for a long time. Besides, that still doesn't change the fact that I'm jobless, homeless, and broke at the moment."

Rainbow Dash sighed disappointingly into her hooves as she stretched out her eye lids. "Gilda, I would let you stay at my place but….."

Gilda cringed. She knew that something would be between them. However, once she learned exactly who it was, she was honestly surprised and happy for Rainbow Dash to be in the position she was in at the moment.

"I'm currently dating someone and…the guest bedroom has been changed into a bigger workout area….he's…he's a wonder bolt."

Gilda's eyes shot up. "That's great!" she said with a smile. "If you can't beat em or join them, I say screw one of them."

The six laughed together full heartedly. It was a much needed laugh.

Eventually though, the dying died down and they were back to the situation. What to do with Gilda. "So…where can you stay, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy inquisitively asked.

Suddenly, a voice piped in from down the far side of the barn, near the entrance. "uhh, pardon the interruption ladies," the low baritone voice stated.

The six turned their heads to see Big Macintosh. He seemed to be very interested in what they were talking about, more importantly who they were talking about, as self evident by the few looks that Big Mac flashed towards Gilda.

"Now, Applejack," Big Mac said as he walked forwards towards them. "Forgive me for suggesting this but…..why not let her stay here?"

This puzzled Applejack for a couple of moments. "I beg'yer pardon?"

"Yeah I mean," Big Mac continued graciously. "We live right under Cloudsdale so miss…..Oh. I'm so sorry. Forgive me but I didn't catch your name," Big Mac told Gild.

"It's G-Gilda," the griffon clucked out with a bit of a blush. She heard a small cackle and automatically realized it came from Rainbow Dash. The griffon only wished she could flip her off at that moment.

"Gilda, beautiful name," the red stallion stated, causing the heat in Gilda's face to intensify. "Anyways, we live Right under Rainbow Dash so you two can visit each other every day. And AJ, we can always us extra hoofs…or in this case, talons around the orchard. And, we still have that extra room ever since Granny Smith's passing so….why not?"

The more AJ thought about it, the more she realized it made perfect since. "I don't see why not," AJ confessed. "I mean, it seems perfect." She then focused her attention towards Gilda. "We can feed you and give you a place to stay for as long as you like and all you'd have to do is help out here and there when needed. You won't have to do nothing for the moment. Apple-bucking season doesn't start till two months from now. But, is that ok?"

"Yeah, certainly," Gilda replied. Then she turned her head to Big Mac. "Is that ok?"

Big Mac responded with his signature. "Eeyup."

* * *

That night, Gilda had dinner with the Apple family, and saw what a true family looked and acted liked. The dinner was good, which all three prepared together (taters and grits with a main course of apple dumplings. They were able to find some old tuna for Gilda, which satisfied her completely and then some). They talked about many things to each other, but all the conversations lead on one particular theme. Each one was heavily invested with the other and wanted to know how their day went because if they had a good day, it meant the other had a great day. All in all, Gilda realized what they truly were; a family. It only made her wish that her family was like that.

After dinner, they went into the main living room, and Gilda realized they had no Television. They usually played games with each other or read Applebloom a story before it was time to go to bed. Applebloom however, was getting to old for bedtime stories and instead asked if Big Mac could play his harmonica. This added an even bigger blush on Gilda's face as she suddenly realized the big, muscular stallion with a long flowing gold mane was skillful in using his mouth and hooves.

She gained and even bigger attraction to him, when she realized that he was a big blues fanatic just as much as she was. This lead to a playful argument about which blues musician was better: Howlin' Diamond Dog, or Duck Berry.

When it was time for bed, Gilda realized that she wasn't going to get much sleep. She noticed then, when she thought about how great of a family they were. She realized how much greater of a family they probably were back when Granny Smith, and the two parents were alive. She realized that death could sometimes divide and even ruin families.

And then she thought about how many families were now affected due to the 411 train derailing.

Applejack noticed Gilda's room was still lit when she was passing by back to her room on her way from the restroom. She tilted the door just a smidgen, and noticed Gilda curled up into a ball on the bed, back knees brought up to her chest.

"Gilda," Applejack asked softly. "Yall alright?"

Gilda sniffed and wiped away the tears from her eyes. "No," she responded.

Applejack slowly entered the room and closed the door lightly behind her. "Let's talk," Applejack stated. A silence fell amongst them before Gilda finally came out with a question she was dying to ask.

"Applejack," she asked sincerely. "Have you ever believed in 'destiny?'?"

The earth pony thought about it for a moment. "Once and a while, yeah. But I tend not to think about such deep things."

Gilda continued with her story. "I don't know why I survived that crash two days ago. All I know is…is that it's gotta mean something. But as to what it is, I don't know. It's tearing me apart on the inside knowing that thousands of innocent people died and I survived and I have no clue why."

"You can't think like that," Applejack told her. "You're only going to beat yourself up thinking such thoughts. What you really need to focus on is this. Things happened, for better or for worse, they happened. Whether they mean something or not, it doesn't help to reflect on it when it's already happened. The truth of whatever this is will reveal itself soon, but as of right now, you just gotta think that it's better to be living, than to be dead."

Gilda hung her head low. She told Applejack that she was right, but that still didn't excuse from the fact that she was here, and somehow, she felt that she didn't deserve to be. She leaned towards the orange earth pony who hugged her, and cried into her shoulder's asking why exactly was she still alive.

She fell asleep crying.


	4. When was the last time your were sick?

3 months passed by and Gilda still felt that incredible sadness. It haunted her in the mornings just like it did in Fillydelphia. However, she found that the depression was no longer intolerable. Every day she found that she could handle the misery just a little bit more. Part of the reason was because Gilda accepted the fact that the sadness might in fact just be a medical or clinical condition. Maybe she would always experience this, and so she would have to learn how to handle it.

But one thing was for certain. She would never go back to Fillydelphia. She had never been in more control of her grief than she was in the presence of Ponyville. The country, small town atmosphere did wonders to her psyche, and by night she would fall asleep in amongst the clouds. It was the mornings that were excruciating, but by the mid afternoon, she would soar. There were three things in particular to cause such a reaction within her.

Big Machintosh.

She got major teasing from Rainbow Dash about it, but honestly, Gilda was always her happiest when around the big red stallion. She didn't even have to have a conversation with him. Just to be in his mere presence was a delight in it of itself. Gilda was assigned to work with Big Mac on the farm because she was the only one, besides Big Mac, that could handle heavy loads. Although some of the loads they carried were excruciating, Gilda never complained. Because working alongside of Macintosh was simply divine. They walked everywhere together because of their job. They got to talk about many things and even if they couldn't find anything to talk about, as stated before, it didn't matter. Gilda had finally found that someone whom she could share in comfortable silence.

It was simply perfect.

Why he made her so happy was simply because he was so charming. He was a stallion of few words, but when he spoke, he spoke of urgent matters containing truth and importance. He was mostly a stallion of actions, and his actions were so pure, so kind, so gentle and selfless that Gilda couldn't help but feel her happiest when in close proximity to his golden mane. Eventually, she realized that she was starting to like him more as a friend. She visualized and often fantasized the possibility of the two becoming something more. And so, by the end of the three months, Gilda vowed that she would ask him out on a date; even if it meant she would have to put up with jokes such as 'I always knew you were a fan of beef,' from Dash.

Rainbow Dash brought up the second reason why Gilda would never go back to Fillydelphia

Her new friends

She realized very early on that the ponies were no longer 'dweebs.' They in fact became very cool companions and always brought Gilda a smile when they had the chance to meet up. Rainbow Dash was still her best friend of course; but eventually, she found herself hanging out with each one of the mane six occasionally. She even found herself sticking around the bakery to help Pinkie Pie with some orders of cake. It struck her as odd that she was becoming a social creature. Back in Filidelphia, she tried her best to blend in. She learned to avoid conversation in the city. But in Ponyville, with her new friends, striking up a polite chit-chat made the sadness dissipate for just a little while. Applejack was practically like a sister to her. She did live with the Apple Family after all. Which lead her to her third reason why she couldn't leave Ponyville.

Applebloom

Gilda realized immediately, from the first day of living with the Apple family, that Applebloom was just too damn cute to leave behind. She looked at Gilda with wonder and awe, and Gilda always found lots of humor and fun playing with the girl in her off time. She helped Gilda crawl away into that space where the depression was no longer relevant. Applebloom helped Gilda place that despair into the back of her mind. She (Applebloom) looked to Gilda like a new big sister, especially since Applejack sent Gilda with Applebloom to run small errands, such as picking up groceries. Gilda also assisted sometimes in picking up Applebloom from school, which gave the little filly extra points on the coolness scale. ('How you getting home Applebloom?' 'Oh you, know, just riding home on a mother bucking griffon!'). Much like with Big Mac, a connection was brewing between the two, even though the connection was altogether different.

And so, because of these three things, Gilda found that she was able to tolerate the sorrow more in Ponyville than in any other place her life. She found comfort , and most of all, she found joy. There seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel, and the village was her gateway towards seeing said light. She could truthfully proclaim that the past three months were the best in her life.

But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

After three months of serenity, Gilda was shocked with the news that a service was being held for the families affected by the derailing of train 411. Naturally, she was invited, being the only surviving member of the crash. At first, she was very hesitant to go. Gilda was terrified by what feelings would get brought up during the service. Her friends understood this entirely and stated that if she decided not to go, they would support her.

Rarity, however, reminded Gilda that she was a small time celebrity, and if she didn't show up, the media would go into a frenzy. There was even the slight possibly that her actions could be taken the wrong way, that they could be taken as 'self-centered,' and rude. Gilda, unfortunately, had to agree with this statement. All eyes of Equestria would be upon her whether she decided to go or not. It would look so much better if she toughed it out, rather than avoid the service.

And so, that's how Gilda found herself dressed in black, sitting in worship house of Celestia and the outer spirits, as a preacher said the names of those who were deceased, and proclaimed loudly, "We pray for your soul." Each time the preacher did this, Gilda became increasingly uncomfortable. Gilda was never a fan of religion to begin with. Neither was Big Mac, who was also seated with her on that day (AppleJack, Applebloom, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity were with her as well). But today, the words falling from the preacher's mouth were affecting her.

She felt distressed by the whole experience, as anyone sane being would be. Things got even worst when eventually, the preacher brought up the name "Francis," who Gilda immediately recognized as the stallion who sat next to her on the train, and stated aloud that the congregation was praying for his soul as well. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't cry. Everyone in the church was practically staring at her already, being that she was the sole survivor. Thus, her job on that day was to be the rock; the anchor to which all other families could grasp upon and see how to handle catastrophe. But it was becoming difficult to keep up such an image.

All of this was giving Gilda the world's biggest headache. It also caused Gilda's thoughts to revert back to that ultimate question; 'Why did I survive?' Gilda decided that she had enough. She decided that tonight would be the night she would answer that question, and she would settle these unsettling feelings once and for all. All she needed was someone to put things into a better perspective. Again, her eyes fell upon the preacher, and she immediately realized what she had to do.

* * *

After the service, Gilda crept away from her friends and grabbed the preacher for a few moments and asked him if there was anyplace more private for the two to talk. The preacher pointed out that there was a confession box and so Gilda and he decided to meet there after he was finished speaking to all of the family members coming up towards him. This however left her friends in a state of desperation for a few moments. They had no clue where she was or where she even went to. They all stood outside the church desperately waiting for Gilda to return from wherever she went to and eventually Big Mac could no longer take it. So he took the initiative and reentered the church once more. It was easy to spot Gilda's talons peeking out from under the confession box. Big Mac decided to sit inside the church and wait for her.

This is where things got a little too personal for Big Mac. Even though Gilda didn't speak above a whisper, due to the silence surrounding the building, Big Mac could hear the two clear as day. It was wrong for him to peep into another's private conversation, but the Big Red stallion couldn't help it. It was like he was magnetically attracted to the conversation, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't leave.

Eventually, everyone who was waiting outside came in to discover why Big Mac was simply just sitting in one of the pews. And so, everypony eventually just took a seat and waited for Gilda to be finish talking to the preacher.

At the moment when everypony was inside, the conversation went something like this.

"I use to play storm ball a lot when I was younger," Gilda told the priest. "I was the defensive tide in. I was basically the girl who got to jump over the d-line and totally sack the quarterback; a perfect position for a psychotic trying to vent out some rage." Gilda laughed a little bit. The priest sat in respectable silence. This unfortunately caused Gilda to become uncomfortable and so she tried to continue the conversation. "Of course, this didn't settle well for White Out,"

"Who?" The priest inquired.

"White Out," Gilda responded "He was my colt-friend during my college years. Nice stallion; had his moments in the sack, but very friendly."

Rainbow Dash smiled a little bit when hearing this for she remembered the colt plain as day. She only wished he was here now to witness this moment, the look of shock on his face would've been priceless.

"His talent was snowboarding and his cutie mark was a mountain, go figure," Gilda commented. "Anyways, he was into extreme sports but he didn't like the idea of stormball."

"Which is?" The priest asked about the initial idea of stormball.

"Whether it's agreed upon or not, the general catharsis of stormball is that you are encouraged every time you harm your opponent," Gilda explained. "White Out could never do that. The kid was like a loving soul that could never do anyone any harm. Fortunately for him, I ended up having to give up stormball my senior year. Unfortunately for him as well, we were broken up at the time."

There was a brief pause before the priest asked "Why did you have to give up stormball?"

"There was a cart accident," Gilda stated. Then the silence returned once more. It lingered for quite some time, before Gilda spoke in a tone that easily expressed the nature of their conversation; which was confirmed to be serious.

"Look," Gilda began. "The cart accident many years ago was just luck. I ended up in the hospital and apparently had something wrong with me, I can't remember too well. The details are all fuzzy." Then Gilda stated in a strong manner, "But I know, I know for a fact that the train accident meant something. The fact that I got up and walked away from something so catastrophic…..it has to mean something right?"

Again, the silence enveloped them like poisonous gas. Even her friends, who were unbeknownst to her, waiting outside, were anxious to hear the priest's response. Finally, the priest let a long and contented sigh. It was a sigh Gilda automatically recognized as a sigh of disappointment. Then, as his voice trembled and wavered between boiling anger and sadness, the priest spoke.

"I'm sorry….I'm….s-s-so…..so sorry," The priest choked out. "I just can't agree with you." She heard the stallion gasp for air as the first few tears fell from his face. Then, he continued.

"My son was on the train with you," he proclaimed. "He was returning home from missionary school. He was going to be a great stallion serving Celestia and the great outermost spirits…..and he was only 25 years old….he was destined for greatness…and now he's dead…..how am i…how am I suppose to say that you're special and that the spirits have a greater plan for all of us….when the perfect plan died before he could even tell his father goodbye?" Suddenly, the atmosphere surrounding the two changed. The tone emerging from the priest was no longer sad, but in fact, filled with bile and disgust. "You're nothing more than a fluke. Mere luck. The spirits had nothing to do with your survival. You just slipped by."

Gilda stood in her side of the confession box somewhat dazed. She couldn't believe that such anger could be directed towards her. Of course, she experienced worst in the flight academy. But back then, she didn't care. Today of all days, she actually was lingering on one's opinion. Back in the academy, she used her tongue to strike down those who tormented her and leave them in tears, just like the ones she was about to release if she didn't revert back to her flight academy days quickly. She decided to attack the priest with logic.

"200 ponies and other creatures, dead," Gilda stated. "I emerge as the only one unscathed and with no broken bones. That has to mean something."

The priest's retort was filled with even more anger, and his voice rose up a few decibels. "My son's skull was crushed open like a tin can. And you honestly expect me to believe that it was all for the best?" The priest then said his final words; the finishing blow to Gilda's confidence in destiny and hope in a brighter tomorrow. "You're worthless. That's all you are."

Suddenly, the door on the priest's side of the confession box was flung open. Gilda watched in amazement as the priest was lifted from his seat with ease and thrown out of the box at record-breaking speeds. Gilda opened the door to her side to follow the priest out; to discover that it was Big Mac who was the culprit in the priest's current abduction.

The red stallion practically threw the terrified colt against one of the pews and proceeded to hold his (Big Mac's) hooves up to the priest's throat and choke him out. Mac's eyes were wide with rage. His mouth was opened and his teeth were clenched in an unpleasant, animalistic, psychotic snarl. He breathed heavily and screamed at the priest, "IF YOU EVER SPEAK LIKE THAT TO A WOMAN AGAIN, I WILL NOT HEISITATE TO RIP OUT THAT REPUGNANT BLACK PIT IN YOUR CHEST TO WHICH YOU CALL A HEART!"

It took several of Gilda's close friends to pull Big Mac off the priest before the Golden Mane practically killed him. Of course, no one would've condemned such an action at any other time, but they were in a church. Just wasn't the right place to kill a colt, even if such a colt deserved a slow gruesome death.

The ponies that tried to pull Mac of the priest were Applejack, Applebloom, and Rainbow Dash. The others (Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity), went towards Gilda and tried to console her. They told her the obvious truth; that the priest was nuts and that she indeed was not worthless. But the damage was already done. Gilda's expression, while stone cold and solid, contained many tears as they went streaming down her otherwise reserved face. She walked out of that church cold and isolated.

When she exited the church, a strange sight caught her eye. Big Mac had brought the entire gang along by a giant wagon, which happened to be the same one that took her home from the motel three months ago. Standing next to that wagon, was a strange purple figure. From a distance, it was impossible to tell whether the figure was a Mare or a Stallion. The giant white trench coat and ridiculous mane style didn't help much either. The figure appeared to be doing something to their wagon. What it was exactly, Gilda wasn't sure. So, she did the rational thing to do, and called out to the figure, "Hey!"

The figure turned its head, and it appeared to be wearing a disguise over his/her face. This didn't do anything to conceal the fact that the figure was caught off guard and alarmed by the fact that Gilda noticed her. This was self-evident by the way the figure took off after being discovered. Gilda also noticed that the figure sported….crutches? she watched the figure wobble away and yes, the figure had to mini crutches on his/her two front hooves; the type of crutches that cerebral palsy patients had to use.

At this point, the rest of the gang came outside to watch the figure run away. The obvious question of "Who's that?" was spoken by Pinkie Pie. Meanwhile, Gilda approached the cart and discovered that the figure left behind a note.

On the outside of the envelope, silver wording glimmered in the sunlight; which read 'Limited Edition.' What this meant exactly, no one was certain. The Apple Family and the others gathered around Gilda as she opened the envelope and discovered the letter inside.

There was no return address, no name, and no greeting whatsoever. The letter went straight for the throat with the question it asked. The question was a simple one, but one that left Gilda perplexed for many hours. It was also the can of worms; the inciting incident in the story of Gilda's life.

The question was, "When was the last time you were sick?"

"Well," Applejack commented as she hung up the phone and spoke to Gilda inside the Carousel Boutique. "I just got off the phone with your father, and now I understand why you wouldn't want to hang out with the guy."

Gilda sat in a big lofty recliner, while Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Big Mac were scattered around the place making phone calls and receiving faxes. The reason they were gathered here in Carousel was for two reasons. 1. It was close to them once they left the church and 2; because they had some investigating to do and Rarity was the only pony who had a faxing machine in her home.

Gilda held up her face with her two front talons as she stared off in the distance, trying to lose herself in her own world. "Try living with the guy," Gilda replied. Then, she asked, "Was he drunk?"

"That ain't the half of it," Applejack told her. "But anyways, you were right. He said he couldn't remember one day you were sick."

"Of course, he's a terrible father," Gilda answered. "So his opinion might not be valuable."

"True, very true," Applejack breathed.

Gilda breathed out a 'humph,' of boredom and deep thought. Then, she turned to Rarity, who was just in the far side of the room they were in. "Rarity," she called out. "Any word back from the hospital?"

The white mare trotted to her side, and dropped the paper down on her lap. "I just got your medical records faxed in," she stated. "Unbelievable. Other than the cart accident and the train derailing, you never have once been to the hospital your entire life. Even your allergy box is blank."

Gilda was fascinated and astounded by all this information. Still, she needed more evidence before she could make her judgment. "Rainbow Dash!" she shouted. "Did you contact the flight academy?"

"Yep," Dash replied. "And they just said they're faxing in your records right now."

The machine in Carousel Boutique buzzed onto life and chipped and chirped and chimed as it worked its magic. After a few seconds, the machine finally powered down and Rainbow Dash, Gilda, Applejack, and Rarity all stared at the records together.

"Incredible," Gilda breathed. "I have never been absent from any classes due to physical illness."

"That's not the half of it!" Pinkie responded as she hopped around the room giddy. "YOU'RE RICH NOW TOO!"

"What?" Applejack asked partly stunned, and unsure of what the hay Pinkie Pie was saying.

"Yeah," Pinkie answered back with. "It seems that, your boss from you old job was so amazed to see that you didn't take one day off of work in all the time you've worked for him, that he offered you a 75% raise if you took your old job back!"

"What's this suppose to mean?" Fluttershy asked who heard Gilda's words from the far left side of the room.

"I don't know," Gilda responded to Fluttershy's question. She then focused her attention to everybody; including Big Mac, who was just requiring a glass of water from the refrigerator.

"But don't you think it's odd?" Gilda asked her audience. "I mean, not only do I emerge from Equestria's most disastrous train accident in recent history unscathed and as the only survivor, but I've also, never once in my life, as far as I can remember, been sick?"

"Eyup," Big Mac replied as he trotted towards her. "It's like you're Unbreakable or something."

Gilda blushed a little bit as Big Mac stood right next to her. "That's very kind of you, but I don't think I'm that strong," she told him.

"You put yourself down too easily," Mackie told her. "You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. And apparently, someone noticed," Big Mac expressed as he motioned his head towards the note in her talons.

Gilda reviewed the envelope one more time. The silver lettering for the words "Limited Edition," reflected off her face. "I only wish I knew what Limited Edition meant," Gilda asked aloud.

"You mean that new comic book art gallery just outside of Ponyville?" A voice requested from the stairs.

The gang turned their heads to see Applebloom standing there on the stairs. She stared back down at them, dressed in her pajamas. Applejack was somewhat angry. "Applebloom?" she insisted. "What in the hay are you doing up? I thought I told you to go to bed. "

"We usually never sleep during a cutie mark crusader's sleepover," Applebloom answered to her sister. "And besides, Sweetie Bell heard voices so I decided to investigate."

"What was that you said earlier about a comic book shop?" Gilda asked Applebloom.

"Oh, 'Limited Edition' is suppose to be like this comic book art gallery or something," Applebloom said. "I don't know much about it, but Pipsqueak from our school is big comic book fan and is super stoked for the gallery. It hasn't even opened yet."

A silence filled the room as Gilda processed this information she just received. Suddenly, the light bulb went off in her head. The idea she received was just so perfect that it had to be put into action at this very moment.

"Say Applebloom, how would you like me to swing you by there when I pick you up tomorrow from you sleep over?" Gilda asked the little Filly with a voice that, while somewhat genuine, contained false enthusiasm.

Applebloom was partly amazed by such a favor. She was speechless for a few moments. "Really?...ok. That sounds great. But I have to see if AJ will allow me to go." She turned to face her sister. "AJ? Is it ok if I go tomorrow with Gilda to the new comic book store?"

AJ was unsure of why Gilda wanted to go the comic book store in the first place. However, AJ was not the least bit concerned or worried. Gilda had proven herself to be a very reliable griffon and thus, AJ completely trusted her. Applebloom would be in caring hands. "…I suppose so," Applejack responded.

"It's settled then," Gilda spoke aloud. "Me and Applebloom will head over to Limited Edition tomorrow."

* * *

When the Apple family finally arrived home, and Applejack went inside, Gilda realized that at that moment, it was the perfect opportunity to ask Big Mac the big question. Before he stepped inside, she stopped him just outside the door.

"What?" he asked kindly and filled with some concern for her.

Gilda tried forming the words correctly at first, but when she opened her beak, nothing came out. He mind drew up a complete blank. This rarely happened, if ever happened to Gilda at all. So, she decided to start from the beginning.

"Look," she said. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you…..but I'm not sure how to-"

Before Gilda could finish her sentence, the Big red Stallion laughed lightly and told her, "I already know what you're going to ask me."

"…you do?" The griffon asked surprised.

"Eyup," Macintosh replied. "And the answer is yes."

Gilda wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. But once her brain finally realized what this meant, her heart soared with joy. "Really?" Gilda asked amazed. Then, she responded, "Oh man! That's awesome. So….where and when do you want to go on our date?"

Big Mac shot her back a strange look. It was a look of confusion. It immediately stopped Gilda's soaring emotions. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"….I was under the assumption that what you were going to ask me was if I could take care of your work load while you were gone tomorrow," Big Mac told her.

A dreadful silence filled the space between the two. Gilda stood there in front of the red horse, eyes widen with shock. Gilda had never felt so awkward in her life. All she could do was just stand there in front of him and utter the simple phrase, "…..oh."

This caused Big Mac to laugh, hard. He laughed to the point that he was almost about to cry. Gilda got somewhat angry by his amusement and eventually asked the red stallion, "Hey, what's so funny?"

"Nothing," Macintosh told her. "It's just…you're really cute when you look like that."

Gilda's blush turned an even deeper shade of red. "…..stop teasing me," she told him.

"I'm not," Big Mac replied. "It's Celestia's honest truth. In fact, you're so cute right now, that I will take up on your offer and I will go on that date with you."

Gilda, again, was unsure if she heard him correctly. "Really?" she asked again.

And that's when he said it; the words to which Gilda remembered, were the most romantic words she ever heard a stallion utter in her life. When by themselves and taken out of context, they really didn't do much. But, when used at this moment, Gilda was spellbound and awestricken by the way the words fell from Mac's lips. "I never was going to deny it in the first place."

And that's when it happened.

Gilda, happy as a clam, realizing that she was indeed going to go on that date with Big Mac someday, wanted physical contact with the stallion. Not wanting to appear crazy or rush into things, Gilda restrained herself and settled with an epic hug. Big Mac returned the hug with equal enthusiasm for what lied in store.

But it was when they pulled away that they realized a hug just wasn't going to cut it. They eyes instantly locked on to each others like they were gemstones in a haystack. And they couldn't bare themselves to look away from each other's. They were just too perfect.

Gilda immediately realized the position she was in and logically she knew what was supposed to come next. But she had never found herself in this position so early in the dating game. They hadn't even gone out on the first date and already, she was going to kiss him. It was so wrong in all logical sense but yet it was so right in an instinctual sense. It was almost…..magical.

They slowly lowered their heads towards each other and both of them unconsciously closed their eye's realizing what was happening between the two. Gilda opened her beak slightly and before they knew it, they were both partaking in the most magnificent kiss either one of them experienced. It only lasted 5 seconds, but, as cliché as it sounds; it felt like an eternity between the two.

When they pulled away, Gilda noticed the look on Big Mac's face. While satisfied with the kiss, Big Mac also appeared disturbed on some level and Gilda instantly recognized why.

"It's the beak, isn't it," she said with a smile. "Don't worry; you'll get use to it. And I plan on getting you use to it soon."

Big Mac, being a stallion of few words, returned her comment with a smile that was so sweet it could've given anyone diabetes.

They gazed into each other's eyes for a long time, before Gilda recognized that they were getting cold standing outside the door and that they should probably be heading off to bed.

"Good night," Gilda told Big Mac as she stepped inside.

The red stallion stopped her.

"Before we head on in, I got to ask you a question," Big Mac stated.

Gilda was intrigued. "Ok, what is it?" she replied.

"I…I just don't seem to understand the point of heading to that comic book store tomorrow morning," Big Mac told her. "I mean, I understand why you're going it's just…what are you expecting to find?"

Gilda gazed down at the ground for a moment as she thought this over. The answer came to her quickly and she immediately recognized that it was nothing more than pure unadulterated truth.

"I'm expecting to find an answer to the question I've been asking myself these past three months," She said.

"Which is?" Big Mac cautiously asked, realizing he was treading on delicate ground.

Gilda stared into his eyes and gave forth her reply.

"Why did I survive?"


	5. The Origins of Limited Edition

*Many Years Ago*

The purple pony sat and cried as she stared into the reflection of herself bouncing back towards her from the mirror. This is what she had been reduced to. There was nothing else left for her to do. She certainly could go outside. It might've cleared her head and she would no longer be stir-crazy. While she did have a broken forehoof, there certainly was nothing holding her back.

But….there was. They were out there. They were waiting, watching, looking for the opportune moment to strike; to laugh at her, to call her names and make her feel weak.

She was weak. She was the mare of glass bones after all. She was only as strong as the reflection she saw in the mirror. Heck, she wasn't even stronger than the mirror itself.

Physically, nothing was keeping her from going outside and playing. Mentally, it was a completely different situation. Self-doubt, self-loathing, fear and isolation began to play nasty tricks on her. In fact, these emotions and many more had already begun to play the moment she broke her forehoof two weeks ago. Ever since then, she basically did nothing except read and cry, and never once did she leave her room.

It was then that Shining Armor decided he had had enough!

He entered her room, robust and filled with the ever-growing intent of getting his sister, Twilight Sparkle, to leave the cage that was her own sanctuary.

"Ok Twillly," Shinning Armor spoke with powerful convection that should've belonged to a mother. In fact, it was his and her said mother who promoted him to speak with Twilight Sparkle. "No More sitting in this room," he commanded angrily. "We've let it gone on long enough."

Twilight only stared into the mirror. Her face distorted itself from time to time as uncontrollable whimpers left her body, causing tears to well into her eyes and cascade down her face. She thought that the lower lip only made her look fragile. She thought she was ugly. That's what the kids across the street called her. They've called her even worst.

"I'm not going out there again," Twilight told her brother. She then extended the forehoof that was in the cast to his general direction and looked him square in the eyes. "This was the last time," she stated. "I told you that I was never going to get hurt again."

"You can't do anything about that," Shinning Armor retorted. "You might fall between your bed and this mirror, if that's what the spirits have planned for you, then that's what's going to happen. You can't hide from life. You can't expect to avoid injury from just sitting in a room." Shinning Armor stopped himself and lowered his face to one of his hooves, realizing that he was only getting angrier and louder the longer he spoke. Controlling himself, he brought his head back up and tried a different tactic. "Besides, isn't it time you went back outside? Huh? I understand a few day but two weeks?! C'mon Twillly, you're friends need you and are waiting for you."

Twillight scoffed. She chuckled bitterly in a sarcastic response. "Friends?" she huffed out. "I don't have any friends."

This astounded Shinning. "What do you mean?" he asked curiously. Surely everypony at least has one friend. What did she mean by the expression 'I have no friends.'

And then she told him.

"The fillies at school call me 'the mare of glass bones,' because I break like glass; both physically and emotionally," Twilight responded.

Shinning leaned down towards her and placed a hoof over her shoulder. "You make this decision now," Shining informed her. "To be afraid, it's going to haunt you the rest of your life. For as long as you live, you will always be afraid."

Twilight shot him a look as if to say 'do I really care?' and then she lowered her head and began to sob some more.

He stored her reaction as a piece of information into the back of his head for later use. At the moment, he was in the midst of planning something. It was an ingenious plan really. It basically was a way of getting Twilight back outside by 'dangling the carrot in front of her,' as it were. All he had to do was inform her.

There was a brief moment of silence as Shinning Armor paused to step back and observe what had just been said to him. Then, he spoke. "I got you a present."

"Why?" Twilight asked bitterly through tears.

"Forget why," Shinning retorted in a strong manner. "Do you want it or not?"

Although almost completely transparent, if one were to focus hard enough, or at least be as close to Twilight Sparkle relationship-wise like Shining Armor, one would've noticed Twilight slightly nodding her head.

"Well go get it then," Shinning Armor commanded her.

"Where is it?" She asked.

And that's when Shinning Armor laid down the bomb shell with a smile. "Across the street," he told her.

Twilight snapped her head towards her brother, shocked and amazed by what she had just heard. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" she screamed. "Some Pony's liable to steal it!"

Shinning Armor smiled, realizing that his plan was about to work. "Then you better go get it before someone else does."

* * *

It wasn't easy going down the stairs, but she did eventually do it. Shinning Armor aided her down the steps, so that part wasn't as hard as she thought it would be.

The hard part was going across the street.

It wasn't physically demanding, but it was psychological torture. For the past two weeks, she was safe. She was in the comfort of her isolation and the indoors had provided her with safety from the cruel comments of the other fillies. But now, she was about to break that barrier. With the first step leading out of her doorway, she would be re-entering that world of chaos and bitter hatred and mockery.

She already saw and heard fillies laughing and playing and…surprisingly, ignoring her. Crossing the street, she realized that the laughter was off to the distance and didn't concern her one bit. She watched the street for traffic, and she finally reached the other side. It was a psychological burden, to leave her home after so many weeks inside it, but she finally reached the other side of the street, and sat down on the park bench. She was grateful to her brother for helping her leave her home.

She was also grateful to him because of the gift that was waiting for her on the park bench she sat down at.

The gift was very square and flimsy and covered in red and green wrapping paper. Twilight Sparkle chuckled to herself at this sight. She realized that her brother cared enough to wrap it, but was lazy enough not to find any other wrapping paper except the one they used on Hearth's Warming Eve. Eagerly, she ripped away the wrapping paper to discover a box. In the box, was something that shocked Twilight Sparkle to a prevailing state of stillness.

To a normal onlooker's eye, it was just a comic book. To Twilight Sparkle, it was the world.

It was the newest issue of "Daring Do and Friends," comic book which was published by "Dark Horse," comics at the time. It was a very hard issue to collect because in this issue, the 'Limited Edition' issue (as clearly marked by the firm black bold letters which read 'Limited Edition'), Daring Do supposedly comes out as a filly-fooler. It was a surprising and ballsy move on Dark Horse's part to release a comic detailing so much. In fact, they received so much backlash because of it that they had to create two separate versions. In one version, the un-limited edition version, the character Daring Do falls in love with is a Colt. In the Limited Edition version, everything remained the same. But it was hard to get a copy of the Limited Edition version. So much so, that Twilight thought she would never see the day to where she could acquire a copy of her own.

Until now.

Twilight basically sat in the park bench, looking down at the comic, with eyes wide due to enjoyment and happiness. Small tears began to form. She was so overwhelmed by the gift that she didn't even notice her own brother walking over and sitting down beside her.

She was brought to his attention when he patted her on the back.

"I bought a whole bunch of different types of comic books," Shinning Armor informed her. "And you will get one every day, on one condition."

"Which is?" Twilight Sparkle asked in a sniffle due to the tears of happiness.

"You have to come out here and get them yourself," Shinning informed her as he dried her tears with the end of his hoof. "You've got to quit being afraid of the world. And I promise you, if you face your fear and come out here every day, you'll get your book, I promise."

He then noticed which comic book she held on to at the moment, and smiled as he leaned into her ear and began to whisper. "You know," he stated, "I hear that this story you're holding on to has a surprise twist ending."

If only he knew. If only, he really knew.

* * *

*present day*

The two stared into the reflective glass holding on to the painting. Actually, it wasn't a painting; it was more of a picture. In fact, it was just a sketch, but a very expensive, very rare sketch at that. No pony really knew of its particular value, except for those who had an unfathomable love for comics and books.

Much like Twilight Sparkle, who was one of the two ponies staring into the glass.

"This is from Fritz Colt's own library," Twilight educated her customer. "This was before the first issue of the comic book hit the stands in the Celestial Calendar year 1968."

The customer, who was a colt with peach fur and a gray mane, looked at her, somewhat impressed by how much she knew about so little.

Twilight returned the look with a smile, and then proceeded with her sales pitch. "It's a classic depiction of Good vs. Evil," Twilight described the painting. "Notice the square jaw on the hero and slightly disproportionate size of the villain's head to his body. This is common in most comic books. But the biggest thing to notice about this piece is the realistic depiction of its characters."

The customer was somewhat confused by that comment.

"You see," Twilight Sparkle began, never once taking her eyes away from the sketch, awed by what laid in her store. "When the characters reach the magazines, they are exaggerated…..this always happens. But this…..this is vintage. It truly is…..a Limited Edition," Twilight Sparkle said the last words as a pun, because the phrase "Limited Edition," happened to be the name of her gallery.

The customer looked at Twilight Sparkle, and then looked back at the sketching. He hummed to himself and placed a forehoof to his chin and rubbed it in deep thought. After a couple of seconds of silence, the customer finally came to his conclusion. "Wrap it up!" he stated with glee.

Twilight Sparkle smiled. A small chuckle left her body. "You've made a considerably wise decision," she informed her customer. Then she started to walk towards her desk, looking for the paper to wrap up the drawing in.

She walked with a limp to her right fore-hoof. She had recently broken this appendage merely walking around her office. It was very easy for her bones to break due to her disease, but she managed to get through life somewhat fine. She had the aid of a crutches wrapped around her front fore-hoofs to aid her walking. The customer at first gave off the impression that maybe he shouldn't have told her to wrap it up and instead should've just grabbed the painting, handed her the check, and walked away. Twilight acknowledged this look and only smiled, stating that she was fine.

As Twilight Sparkle walked towards her desk, the customer continued looking at the painting, and smiled.

"Well, my kid's gonna go berserk," he informed her.

The sound of screeching brakes played itself inside Twilight's mind. She could not believe what she just heard. Rationally, she thought that the customer was implying something far less arrogant, but Twilight wasn't sure. She snapped her head back and looked towards the customer who continually stared at the glass. Twilight was shocked.

"What was that?" Twilight asked somewhat paranoid.

"My son Jeb," The customer said to Twilight. "It's a gift for him."

It was a pretty rationally explanation, but still, one more thing needed to be asked.

"How old is Jeb?" Twilight inquired.

"Oh, he's 7," the customer replied.

That did it. That set off the fuse inside Twilight Sparkle. If she had been annoyed enough, she would've burst into flames like she did long ago with Pinkie Pie. Her deepest darkest fears had been confirmed. This customer…was an idiot.

"No!" Twilight Sparkle shouted as she walked/limped back towards the customer. "No, No, no, No!"

Then, once again, they were merely mere inches apart from each other. "You need to go, now," Twilight stated to the colt.

The colt, in returned scoffed. In fact, he laughed. It sounded absurd. One minute, he was simply acquiring a gift for his child; the next, he was being told to leave. What was up? He asked that question. "What did I say?"

Thus began one of the greatest rants Twilight had ever uttered.

"Do you see any dolls in here?" she told the colt. "Do you see, anywhere on my body, a slender plastic tag with my name written anywhere on it? Did you see a little filly or colt with a blank expression sitting outside in a mechanical plastic orange helicopter that shakes when you put quarters in it?"

The customer stared back at her, confused.

"No?" Twilight replied. "Well, that's what you see in a toy store and you MUST think you're in a toy store because you're shopping for SOME INFANT NAMED JEB!"

Twilight finally closed the distance between the two and whispered as she leaned in towards his face, very intently and bitterly. "Now, one of us….has made a gross error and wasted the other's valuable time. This is an art gallery my friend, AND THIS," she exclaimed while pointing at the sketch, "Is a piece of art." She placed her hoof back down. "Now, you will either treat it as such, or, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

* * *

"RIGHT THERE!" Apple bloom exclaimed while riding on Gilda's back as they rode through the air. She pointed at a brick/glass building near the edge of the south side of Ponyville. "That's Limited Edition," she spoke into Gilda's ear.

Very carefully, Gilda reduced her wing flaps and speed until they landed softly on the ground just a couple of feet away from the building. Training from the flight academy taught her well. She could've landed directly in between two trees if she wanted to, but that wasn't what she wanted to do at the moment. At the moment, what she really wanted to do was take in the presence of the building that was before her.

It was a rather long two story brick building, with glass surrounding the ceiling. Gilda didn't see for what purpose, but she really didn't care. She noticed a glass window just right beside the main entrance. Covering the window in tinted green glass was the phrase "Limited Edition." There was no way that this was a coincidence. The writing was even in the same exact font as it was on the back of the envelope she received.

"This must be the place," Gilda said to Apple Bloom.

"I know it is," Apple Bloom stated with a smug smile.

Gilda returned the smile with a smirk. She was becoming a bad influence on Apple Bloom. It brought a tear to her eye, it really did, that this pony thought she was super cool.

As they walked up the building, and passed a colt on the stairs exiting the building (who seemed to be cussing under his breath) Gilda was filled with anxiety. What was she going to find in this place? Will all of her questions finally come to an end? When she woke up this morning, she didn't feel the sadness. Would the people in this place be able to answer why? Would this entire nightmare of freak anxiety and emotions finally come to an end?

Only one way to find out.

They opened the door, and a tiny jingle of a bell rang out, symbolizing that they had come in.  
a body-less voice way off in the back of the store spoke. "We're by appointment only."

"I got a card from this store," Gilda responded to the voice.

"Congratulations," the voice sarcastically spat back. "You have a mail box. The exhibition isn't for 2 weeks."

"This one was under the windshield wiper of a carriage," Gilda told the voice. "It asked if I had ever been sick."

Now, under the body-less voice, the random clapping of hoofs along the floor was heard. This obviously meant that whoever was speaking to Gilda was also preoccupied with something else. But as soon as Gilda informed the voice that the card asked if she (i.e. Gilda) had ever been sick, the clapping stopped. It only stopped for a moment, but emotionally, it meant so much. This proved that by whatever Gilda said, it immediately caught this pony's attention.

Suddenly, the clopping got louder and closer, until eventually, the figure came into view. Gilda automatically recognized her. It wasn't hard to. The purple fur, the stripped and strangely cut mane, it was just too symbolic to not recognized.

"Dweeb?" Gilda asked, unsure of what she saw.

"Twilight?" Apple Bloom asked as well with her thick southern accent.

"Gilda." Twilight stated, knowing full and well that eventually she would show up to her store, and she was glad she did.

She walked over anxiously to Gilda and spoke to her face to face in a dramatic whisper.

"Hurry, come with me," Twilight said. "There's so much I've got to ask you. I've been waiting a long time for you to arrive here."


	6. I Believe comic book superheroes exist

"Are you certain, that you've never been sick?" Twilight Sparkle asked Gilda from across her desk.

Gilda had finished her glass of water when she responded to Twilight's question. "Not really," Gilda stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm like….80% certain that I've never been sick."

Twilight raised a brow. "Well, that's not certain at all," she said in a matter of fact way. Then, moving her eyes away from Gilda, she looked down and proclaimed under her breath, "That's hole number 1. I'm going to be extremely skeptical about all this." Then, she looked back up. "Are you at least certain that you've never been injured before?"

"Gilda's been injured," Apple Bloom piped up from behind her glass, which she held with two hooves to her face.

Twilight gave Apple bloom a queer stare, fascinated by what the filly said. Finally she looked back at Gilda. "Is Apple bloom correct?"

Gilda looked away and sighed. She knew immediately what Apple bloom was referring to. She ultimately had to respond by shaking her head and smiling in strange, dissatisfied matter. "Yeah. I was in this cart accident with Rainbow Dash back at the flight academy. When I came to in the hospital, the doctor's told me that I had injured my wing. The strange thing was I felt completely fine. But they told me that when I came in I was screaming in pain and telling them myself that I was injured…so I really don't know. I can't remember a thing after we hit the tree."

Twilight hummed to herself, and began to stroke the bottom of her chin with her hoof in deep thought. "How serious was the injury?" she finally asked.

"She couldn't play storm ball again," Apple Bloom stated. She looked at Gilda, who was looking at her as though she was speaking out of turn. In actuality, she really wasn't being rude, but Gilda was just perplexed by how much Apple Bloom retained from casual conversations at the dinner table. "I mean, that what you said right?" Apple Bloom asked Gilda in a tone that made it sound as though she was scared. But Apple Bloom had nothing to fear. Gilda returned what she said with a smile.

"I pretty much had to quit," Gilda commented. Then she turned to Twilight Sparkle. "Once you get damaged like I did, even if you don't feel it, the school gets pretty skeptical, so instead of being babied around I decided just to drop out entirely."

After hearing what Gilda said, Twilight, yet again, looked away and commented to herself, "That's hole number 2."

The three of them were in the back of Twilight Sparkle's gallery. Twilight sat behind her fine, furnished, cheery wood desk while Gilda and Apple Bloom sat on the other side in possibly the most comfortable chairs Gilda ever sat in. She was somewhat perplexed by the surroundings she was in. Apple Bloom told her it was a comic book gallery. If that was the case, then this had to have been the most professional atmosphere for a comic book related gallery she had ever seen. Everything was clean and dusted, and all the furniture seemed fine and very expensive. Gilda practically panicked when Apple Bloom asked for a glass of water and Twilight returned (wobbling because of her crutches) with a glass that looked so fine it should've belonged in the Royal Palace.

The walls surrounding them were covered with what appeared to be ancient artifacts collected by Twilight Sparkle. Gilda couldn't recall the exact period of history these artifacts were from, but they all had the same tone and texture. They reminded Gilda of…..well….comic books. They all had pictures on them and all of the pictures represented an action.

All of this, the surroundings, the conversation, and the fact that apparently this was the first time Twilight Sparkle had spoken to someone so close to the mane six in years, troubled Gilda greatly. There was a silence amongst the three as Twilight appeared to be thinking long and hard once again. Gilda just couldn't take it anymore. She came to this place hoping to find answers and by Celestia, she was going to get them.

Interrupting Twilight's train of thought, Gilda asked politely, "Twilight, do you mind telling me what this is all about?"

The purple pony returned the comment with a look that gave off the impression that she (i.e. Twilight Sparkle) was confused by the question Gilda just asked.

"I mean…..the note under the wiper…these 'holes' that you keep referring to…..what does it all mean?"

Twilight got the message, and sighed. She didn't sigh out of disappointment however. She sighed as if though she was relief; as though she were waiting for the opportune moment to tell Gilda what she was about to say. It was all very strange, and from the way Twilight's eyes remained focused, yet gave off an impression that she was far off in the distance, disturbed Gilda greatly. Apple Bloom was too young to understand such things, but you can spot 'crazy' up close. One just has to look in the eyes.

Twilight placed her hooves together, and spoke calmly and clearly, as though she was reciting a speech that needed to be heard.

"I've read books for as long as I could remember," Twilight began. "Reading has always been a passion of mind and I've pursued the quest for knowledge greatly for many years." Then, her voice changed tone, as though what she was saying made her the happiest. "Although not necessarily considered educational by some, my favorite guilty pleasure was reading comic books. My brother use to give them to me all the time and I would read them by the dozens."

Her tone of voice changed again. This time, it was sadder. "I spent a third of my life in a hospital bed with nothing else to do but read…." Twilight looked down at her hooves, and recited the rest of her case in a matter of urgency. "I believe comics are our last link to an ancient way of passing on history."

Twilight looked at a relic which was posted on the wall behind her, and then spoke to Gilda, hoping the artifact would start to make sense to the Griffon. "The crystal walls from the palace of the crystal empire depict pictorial figures performing amazing things. Many places, aside from Equestria, still use a comic-like format to pass on information to others, or at least leave in formation behind for others to discover and, in my opinion, decipher."

She then grew passionate in her speech, and spoke to Gilda with a mixture of fervor and wonder. "I believe comics are a form of history; that somepony, somewhere, at sometime felt or experienced…of course those experiences and that history got tainted by the commercial machine in order to make titillating cartoons for the sale rack."

Gilda at this point was intrigued. She obviously knew that Twilight seemed like a pretty sane and rationale pony, but what she was referring to…..it didn't really make sense. In a logical world, what Twilight was saying was considered crazy. But then again, Gilda knew that Twilight wasn't finished yet. Maybe this conversation would take a weird left turn.

In a way, it did, but not the way Gilda was expecting.

"Equestria has seen its share of disasters," Twilight commented. "There's the in famous Zeppelin incident in which thousands of passengers died in an explosion as the Zeppelin began to land. Morbid I know, but there's more. There was a fire around 8 months ago that completely destroyed one of the most extravagant apartment complexes in Canterlot….. There's the random collapse of the Appleoosa water tower which flooded the town and took the lives of several hundred ponies and buffalo's. All in all, during these accidents, I watched the news, waiting for the words to emerge, but they never did."

At this moment, Twilight got a glimmer in her eye, and she smiled in a way which seemed so hopeful and charismatic. "And then one day, I hear about a train accident, and I heard them. 'There is a sole survivor and he,' or in this case, 'she is miraculously unharmed.'"

Gilda paled. She couldn't believe it. She was putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but it was completely crazy. There's no way Twilight Sparkle thought that Gilda was a…..well…..she certainly wasn't heroic in any way.

Gilda looked at Apple Bloom. Her reaction is what really terrified her. Apple Bloom's eyes widen in wonder. Gilda caught the faintest glimpse of a smile on the filly's face. Apple Bloom…..apparently, was buying into what Twilight was saying….and actually liked it!

That still didn't explain why Twilight Sparkle hadn't spoken to her friends in years. Gilda had many question to ask Twilight regarding this topic. Why the isolation? Why did she try to kill herself many years ago? What was the point?

Twilight answered Gilda when she spoke up again. "I have a disease called osteogenesis imperfecta. Basically, my cells cannot create a certain kind of protein and thus my bones are very brittle; susceptible to break. I use to take medication for it back when I lived in Ponyville. Zecora, may she rest in peace, knew a certain kind of herb that I was able to take with my food which helped produce the proteins that my body needed. I asked her where I could find these herbs, but she said that it was a family secret, and that the last time some Zebra spoke about this magical plant she gave me, an all out war occurred. I told her she could trust me…..but she never did tell me about the place where this herb originated from, or where I could find some more."

Twilight's eyes went down as she spoke in a melancholy tone. "Then one day…..Zecora died. Without her, I didn't have my medication. For two weeks, I…..illegally searched her home for something, ANYTHING, that could've told me where I could get the medicine needed…..but there was nothing…I lost all hope-"

Gilda finally got it. "And that's why you tried to kill yourself."

Twilight faintly nodded in then continued with her speech. "Fortunately Spike was able to find me in time to send me to the hospital. When I came to, I asked if I could speak to the Princess. I referred to her about my problem. She looked into it and sent guards to Zecora's homeland, but unfortunately, there was nothing they could find. Even the villagers themselves are clueless as to the herbs used in my medicine."

Twilight regained her sad composer. "I was ashamed about what I did…..I knew my friends would accept me back but….I knew it would never be the same. So I asked if I could end my research on friendship. Celestia provided me with a home, which is the one you guys are in right now, and I adopted a new identity. Although my face can't necessarily change, legally, I am a completely different pony. Only my brother, Cadence,Spike, Luna, and Celestia know about this…..and now you two know as well. As for what happened to Spike, he eventually got too big to keep with me and he ended up living with the dragons in the mountains."

Twilight went back to the tone she used when speaking about her disease. "So far this year, I have had seven broken bones, and I have the tamest version of osteogenesis imperfecta; type 1. There's type 2's, type 3's, type 4's…..type 4's usually don't survive infancy."

Then, Twilight got that sparkle in her eyes once more. "It is because of my disease, because of the fact that aside from school, I grew up in hospitals with my head in comic books; because of all this, I came up with an idea. It's been with me for a long time, but only recently have I developed it into a full blown theory, that only now can be tested…..I lived in one side of the spectrum for many years; constantly getting sick, getting hurt…what if there was somepony on the opposite end? What if there was somepony, who never gets sick? Sompony who's unbreakable? Maybe that sompony…..is who these comics are written about. And he or she probably doesn't even know it, that they were sent here on this earth…..to protect us….I just never would've thought that the somepony was in fact not a pony at all."

Gilda was shell shocked. This conversation ended up the exact same way Gilda thought it would end; badly. There was no way what Twilight was saying was true. Only the crazy believed what Twilight believed.

Twilight summarized all that she stated in two simple sentences. These two sentences will haunt Gilda for the rest of her life. "I believe that comic book superhero's walk the earth…..and that you Gilda….are one of them."

Gilda sat in her chair, numbed by the whole experienced. She felt dazed. The room seemed as though it was spinning. She felt like from the weight of it all, she was going to throw up.

Apple Bloom however, was excited. Her face was brighter than any light Equestria had ever seen. "ARE YOU SAYING THAT GILDA IS-" Apple Bloom proclaimed with a shrieking voice.

Twilight stopped her, with a very serious tone. "I didn't say a thing!" she responded. "It's just a theory…one with many holes."

A silence fell amongst the three. The entire atmosphere of the room became hostile. Not in the sense that there was intimate injury upon them, but more or so, that whatever was to be said next would have to be of strict importance. Whoever spoke next basically had to deal with the pressure of how the rest of the conversation would plan out.

Gilda took this opportunity to her advantage. She had to stomp out Apple Bloom's false hope immediately. There was no way Gilda was hero. Twilight was just insane.

Gilda watched as Apple Bloom brought the glass of water up to her lips for one more sip. With a voice low and docile, Gilda commanded, "Apple Bloom, don't take another sip of that water."

Apple Bloom paused, glass in the air, halfway to her lips. "But Gilda-"

"No Buts," Gilda retorted. She looked Apple Bloom dead in the eyes. "Go throw it in the trash. Now."

Apple Bloom at first remained motionless, confused by why she needed to throw away the glass. But, after a while, the silence between the three became dense and hostile once more, and Apple Bloom left the room not because she wanted to, but because she desperately needed to.

Once Apple Bloom trotted away, Gilda gave Twilight the dreadful glare she gave Apple Bloom a few minutes ago. Twilight responded to the glare with a stare of her own; one filled with a sense of understanding. It was as if Twilight's stare said 'I know you think I'm crazy, but I'm right.'

Gilda wasn't about to accept that notion anytime soon. She made that evident when she spoke to Twilight.

"You know," Gilda began. "I use to see ponies, and stallions, and griffons, and multiple types of creatures like you in my old job. You find someone you can take advantage of, you lift up their hopes with this miraculous story…..and then somewhere along the line you say, 'now all I need is your credit card number.'"

Gilda scoffed, in both anger and disgusted; surprise and disappointment. This is where everything ended up. She would never understand why she survived that crash, if all sources lead to this crazy pony. "I've had several mornings ever since that accident, here and there, and even today, I woke up not feeling….sad. I thought that whoever wrote that note and placed it on the windshield wiper had an answer…..But in the end I don't think there are any answers. There's the sane and insane….and what you're proposing…it can't be real…it just can't."

At that moment, Gilda heard the hoof falls coming from Apple Bloom. Gilda got up and without shaking Twilight's hand, left a confused and Flabbergasted purple pony by saying, "I'm leaving now."

When Apple Bloom arrived at the desk, Gilda directed her head towards the door and the little filly realized that it was time to leave. They both walked out together, in silence.

Or they would've, if Twilight hadn't had asked one more question while they were leaving.

"What did you use to do?" Twilight asked desperation thick in her voice. "You're old job. What was it?"

Without turning back, Gilda spoke up, "I use to be a security guard for the fillydelphia eagles stadium." And then she pushed open the door, and she was gone.

Little did Gilda know that those words, while minute and small, left a giant impression on Twilight. This wasn't the end of their conversation…not by a long shot. They would meet again. Somehow, someway, they would meet again.

* * *

As Gilda flew home, she noticed that Apple Bloom clung on to her back a little more forcefully than usually. It was then it occurred to Gilda that maybe Apple Bloom wanted to believe what Twilight said was true just because….in a way….Apple Bloom needed a hero. She told Gilda about the multiple times bullies teased her at school for being a blank flank. It must've been an awful feeling; to not know who you truly are and what you're meant to be.

So maybe Apple Bloom needed a hero. Apple Bloom needed that all powerful protective being to give her perspective, to know that no matter what, there was a hero watching out for her.

But Gilda was not supposed to be her hero. Apple Jack was suppose to be Apple Bloom's hero. Big Mac was supposed to be Apple Bloom's hero. Not Gilda. For one thing, Gilda was still a new member of the household, and while she appreciated how fondly Apple Bloom thought of her like a sister, she in the end, wasn't really her sister. Plus, the title 'hero,' meant that Gilda would have to be perfect. If she accepted that role, if she let Apple Bloom down, it would be a tragic blow to everyone in the family, and Gilda wasn't about to upset anypony just yet.

What scared her the most about how much Apple Bloom believed Twilight, was the fact that what Twilight said could be twisted multiple ways. The purple pony said that the hero 'she probably doesn't even know it, that they were sent here on this earth to protect.' What if Apple Bloom thought she was supposed to be the hero? What if she started getting into trouble, getting into fights that weren't her own, or sweet Celestia, what if she actually tried to stop a crime that she couldn't stop, all in the name of trying to be a hero?

When they landed at Sweet Apple Acres, Gilda had to bring Apple Bloom aside and speak to her directly.

"Apple Bloom….." she said softly and with concern. "You know that what Twilight said was crazy…right? You know there's no such thing as super heroes, right?"

Apple Bloom nodded her head yes.

Gilda sighed. The way Apple Bloom responded wasn't necessarily enthusiastic. There was still a part in the little filly that wanted to believe what Twilight said was true. She decided not to fight it. Eventually, Apple Bloom would learn that in the end, Gilda was just a normal Griffon. It would be hard for her to accept, but then again, all fillies in the end have to 'put away the toys,' as it were, and accept life for what it was.

But there was still one thing that needed to be taken care of.

"Apple Bloom, can you do me a favor?" Gilda asked. The little filly's eyes widen with enthusiasm. Gilda leaned in close, to make sure her words had an impact. "Today never happened. If Applejack asks about what happened today, tell her the store was closed. If anyone asks, you tell them the same thing, you got that?"

"Ok," Apple Bloom responded. "But why?"

Gilda spoke somewhat truthfully. "As far as I'm concerned, I didn't want what happened today to happen. It was just a major disappointment and I don't want to infringe that disappointment on anyone else. Got that?"

Before Apple Bloom could respond, the door to the front of the house opened and Big Mac called out to Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom, supper's ready!"

"Coming!" Apple Bloom rushed into the house with a big smile on her face. She was starving.

As she went inside, Big Mac went out to great Gilda. The two nuzzled their necks together and began to feel warm and at peace.

"So, how was today?" Big Mac asked.

"The store was closed," Gilda responded.

"That's a shame." Big Mac stated.

Gilda's response could've been interpreted in many different ways. "Yeah…..it really was a shame."


	7. Broken Glass

Two weeks passed by after Gilda had visited 'Limited Edition' and nothing unusual had happened since. She basically fell into the same routine much like the one she fell into days after the accident, once she got acquainted with the Apple family and started doing work around the farm. Only this time the sadness was haunting her. Back then, the sadness was just a vague reminder that she (i.e. Gilda) was doing something wrong. If not that, the sadness back then symbolized that something in her life was amiss, but she couldn't put her talon on it.

This time, however, the depression was thick. It was like a fog which left her blind and dumbfounded. Part of the reason why the sadness was attacking her so strongly, was because it wasn't just the usual 'lost in the world,' depression that she usually had. It was mixed with a terrifying guilt; guilt that she, Gilda Griffon, knew that Twilight Sparkle was alive and yet she was telling no pony about it. It made her sick to her stomach knowing this fact, and yet she still remained silent and commanded Applebloom to be silent as well.

She had her justifications for her continued stillness on the matter. For one thing, Twilight was crazy. It didn't take too much thinking to realize this fact. Anypony who thought that superheroes were real was crazy. It was delusional and irrational to say the least.

There was also a sense that Twilight was maladaptive in her behavior. She seemed to pose a threat to herself and Gilda as well. Gilda knew that Twilight would be likely to inflict pain upon herself (i.e. Twilight) due to the fact that the purple pony tried committing suicide years ago. As for why the purple unicorn posed a threat to Gilda, the griffon couldn't identify a single logical reason as to why. It left her tossing and turning in the middle of the night, and most of the time, she didn't get one wink of sleep.

Was it because Twilight was right? Maybe Gilda was supposed to be a superhero? Or maybe it was something much simpler. Maybe Gilda felt like she was filling in the hole that Twilight left in her friends' hearts. If the purple pony returned, it would signify the end of Gilda's connection to her new-found friends.

Regardless of these excuses, Gilda still felt overwhelmingly guilty for not telling Applejack, or any of the mane six, that Twilight Sparkle was alive and somewhat well. This guilt, added with her usual depression, made the two weeks an almost inescapable void that would swallow her whole.

However, there was one stallion which brought her out of the depths and made her forget about everything.

All throughout the two weeks of hell, the best part of the day was working alongside Big Mac. She didn't care that she had to carry a bigger work load than usual. As long as it gave her the opportunity to talk to Big Mac, she always felt happy. The two were off to a brilliant start in their relationship. The date proposed by Gilda Griffon would come up on the weekend of the second week. In the meantime, the two weren't prudish in their actions, and would try to find ways to sneak off their work and nuzzle against each other under a shady tree. Sharing kisses between the two became so casual, that it was comparable to somepony passing the salt along the dinner table.

Then, the day of their date arrived, and Gilda was filled to the brim with excitement and anxiety. This delightful terror overshadowed any of the guilt and sadness that Gilda would typically experience. Thus, that night was the greatest night of her life. In hindsight, the date and details as to what they did on that day weren't unusual. In fact, it was almost clichéd. But because being with her stallion in public killed off any sense of depression, Gilda placed this day as one of her fondest memories.

Gilda was dressed to the nines in what must've been the most fashionable suit in pony history. She did have some help with Rarity in selecting a dress; on two conditions. One, the dress couldn't be too sissy-ish. And two, she could NEVER, EVER tell Applejack. It wasn't the fact that Gilda was terrified of what Applejack would do if she found it. She had her suspicions that Applejack already knew that Gilda and Big Macintosh were in a relationship together. What terrified her was if Applejack knew, then Rainbow Dash would know soon and Gilda would be SO EMBARRASED. She honestly wouldn't know how to live down Dash's teasing if she ever found out.

Big Mac was dressed in a masculine red bowtie and black coat. The look of how small the black coat was over Mac's ripped muscle tone sent shivers down the Griffon's spine. Mac knew what kind of impression he had upon her. He wasted no time winking at her very lustfully when he and Gilda met up in their favorite rendezvous; the tree to which they would share kisses during work. Gilda was very tomboyish and brute and tough at heart, but in that moment, she felt weak in the knees. She almost fainted.

The date consisted of an elaborate and extravagant dinner in one of ponyville's most luxurious restaurants which Gilda was surprised that Big Mac could afford. Afterwards, the two saw a movie which was listed as number one by all film critics at the time of it's released. Sadly, and yet ironically, the film was a documentary about the "Mare-do-well," incident and how the merchandising of the "Mare-do-well," products took off like a storm. Gilda did her best to smile throughout the movie, but it was getting difficult and she felt sick to her stomach. If only Mackie knew how closely related the "superhero" movie genre was to her.

Besides that, the whole date had been spectacular. Even after the movie, Gilda was swept right off her talons and paws once more when Big Mac noticed a certain chocolate stand and offered to buy Gilda some treats. They shared the chocolates together on the way home. They taunted and prompted each other into kissing by placing a chocolate in their mouth and asking the other to taste it. It made Gilda's heart soar.

The most memorable moment of that date was when Gilda and Big Mac shared a kiss on the front porch door, same as they did a day and two weeks ago when Gilda asked for this date. It was a simple kiss, but it was strong. Big Mac had grown quite use to kissing a woman with a beak, and learned very quickly how to make the griffon light headed. The kiss between the two lasted for about 7 seconds, and when they pulled away, a long trail of salvia was strung between their two lips. This made Gilda laugh.

Then, they heard a loud crash. It was loud enough to make Gilda jump. She turned towards the source of the noise and became pale white with fear and terror. What she saw was simply the ONLY thing she did not want to see on this eventful night. It was all going so well.

Why did Rainbow Dash have to be at the Apple family farm challenging Applejack to hoof wrestling only to witness Gilda and Big Mac sharing a passionate moment together?

Rainbow smiled, and then shouted, "HA! I KNEW IT! I SO TOTALLY KNEW IT! APPLEJACK OWES ME FIFTY BITS!"

* * *

And that is how Gilda found herself with Rain bow dash 3 days later back in Fillidelphia. Rainbow Dash did indeed receive the fifty bits and decided to put the bits to good use. Knowing that Gilda worked as a security guard at the Filidelphia Eagles stadium, she began looking up dates as to when the Eagles would be playing a home game. Once she found it, she planned on getting the bits to buy the two tickets, so that she and Gilda could basically have a 'girl's day out,' together. But a girl's day out between these two always had an added kick to it, and thus, made the offer from Dash so tempting that Gilda had to accept.

It was on that day, that everything changed forever.

They had just made their way from the train and they had trotted their way to the Eagle's stadium, waiting patiently, yet eagerly in line to buy tickets. Although Gilda still felt that strange mixture of guiltiness and sadness, the fact that she and her best friend were doing something that was almost considered tradition, made Gilda feel so giddy inside. It was exactly like old times. Nothing had changed a bit between the two, and Gilda felt so happy.

Once they got up to the counter, Rainbow Dash found the pouch of bits and placed them on the counter. "Two tickets, 50 yard line please," Rainbow Dash asked.

The response she received was, "Oh sweet Celestia. Gilda is that you?"

Gilda looked up and almost screamed with excitement. Behind the counter was a brown mare with a tan mane; otherwise known as terry. While Gilda worked at the stadium, Terry and Gilda became like two amigos. Terry had that same tomboyish charm that Gilda had and both were pretty much the counterculture of feminine stereotypes.

This wouldn't count as a moment in which they displayed such attitudes, as they giggled and squealed with excitement as soon as Terry ran out from behind the booth and hugged Gilda.

"Holy cow Gilda!" Terry announced as they embraced each other. "It's been way too long."

"Same here," Gilda replied as they hugged.

"I mean, I saw in the news that you survived that accident and I was like, 'holy cow, Gilda's one tough chick.' But then again I already knew from experience," Terry announced as she pulled away from Gilda.

The reminder of her survival had become common for Gilda anytime she was out in public. She caught some stares and some brief looks. Sometimes, she was even asked for an autograph and a picture (the saddest example of this was when a filly bound to a wheel-chair went up to Gilda and commented "if you can survive a train crash, I can survive being crippled," Gilda still gets choked up thinking about that particular incident). So when Terry brought it up, Gilda brushed off the comment as casual conversation.

"You're not going to believe me when I say this, but that train accident was actually sort of a blessing in disguise," Gilda somewhat truthfully stated. "I mean, because of the accident I found a new line of work which I actually enjoy."

"Really? What's that?" Terry asked curiously.

"I'm working on an Apple farm," Gilda stated. Terry looked somewhat flabbergasted and Gilda had to laugh. "I know, I know, it's strange. But its simple work and the job includes free food and free housing."

"Now that's always nice," Terry said with a smile. "Free housing would be great right about now. Did you know the rent on my apartment actually went up twenty percent?"

"Seriously?" Gilda squawked. "That's crazy! You need to kick your land owner in the balls."

"Yeah, I know," Terry stated, "But it ain't worth it. It's best just to work double time down here at the stadium." There was a bit of silence between the two before Terry stated. "You know Gilda, Free housing and food is awesome, but I bet you there's another reason why I haven't seen you in so long."

Gilda smiled. "How right you are Terry. Seriously you can read me like a book." Gilda took a deep breath, and then told her. "The truth is…I actually found my boyfriend after the train accident."

Terry smiled. "Well I'll be damned. Mrs. Gilda, independent, 'I don't need no boyfriend,' Griffon found someone to ruffle feathers with." The brown pony laughed.

"Yep," Rainbow Dash commented. "I gave her a lot of crap when I heard about it. I'm Rainbow Dash by the way."

Terry's eyes widened. "The Rainbow Dash. Great jumping Luna's! I've heard so much about you from Gilda. She said you two were like peas and carrots."

Rainbow smiled. How right she was. "Yeppers. In fact, that's why we came down here. It's a little tradition for us to go out and see a storm ball game at least once in a year together.'

"Hey, don't worry about the tickets. I'll give you whatever seat you want for free," Terry stated.

Rainbow's eyes widen like saucers. "Seriously?!"

"Yeah. Anything for Gilda," Terry commented as she nudged the griffon in the shoulders. "Seriously, nothing has been the same ever since you left security. The new guys suck. Did you know what happened today?"

"No," Gilda replied.

And that's when Terry said it.

"Some purple pony in crutches came in with fake tickets and the two dummies still have her in the interrogation room. In fact, she said she was looking for you. I believe her name was 'Twilight spittle,' or something?"

* * *

Dash was pissed!

All this time, all this time Gilda knew that one of her closest friends was alive, and she told NOPONY! Dash signified this anger, by refusing to talk to Gilda as they walked down the inside corridors to meet Twilight Sparkle in the interrogation room. She showed her anger by stomping as loud as she could as both she and Gilda walked down the halls. From the way Gilda's head ducked, Gilda seemed afraid. Good! Rainbow Dash hoped that the guilt was just eating her up.

But there was another reason why Dash was silent and didn't blurt obscenities or scream or throw punches like she usually would do when angry. She had yet to see Twilight Sparkle. Although the odds were not in Gilda's favor, this could be a huge misunderstanding. What if they got to the interrogation room and there was some pony in a different shade of purple named Twilight Spittle? It would be so embarrassing if Rainbow Dash lost her cool now and that was the case.

When they reached the door, Dash took a peek inside. There she was. The mane cut and the purple coat where unmistakable. Rainbow Dash lost her shit. She slammed a hoof against the wall next to Gilda's face, and screamed.

"WHAT THE BUCK GILDA!" Dash exclaimed. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?"

Gilda was slow and hesitant to speak. Yet when her voice came out, she seemed calm and collective. "Dash, I can explain."

"OH YEAH, LIKE I HAVENT HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Gilda decided that enough was enough and basically just let it all out.

"She thinks I'm a superhero," Gilda stated to her pony friend.

The gears in Dash's head began to jam. "…..what?"

"She thinks I'm a superhero like Batmare, Spider Mare, the Equestrian Torch," Gilda continued.

"…do you realize how INSANE that sounds?!" Dash retorted.

"Exactly," Gilda replied. "Which is why I didn't tell you that I saw her when I went into Limited Edition the other day," Gilda lowered her voice, and began to stress her words calmly to her friend. "Look, the mare in there is not the Twilight Sparkle you once knew. She may remember you, she may even still be your best friend, but she is NOT the same. Something in her head snapped."

"What a bunch of horseshit!" Dash proclaimed.

Gilda, in righteous fury, opened the door to the interrogation room. "Fine, go in and see for yourself," Gilda stated to her friend.

"…maybe I will," Dash spat back. She composed herself and then trotted into the room.

But no amount of composure could've prepared her for what she saw when she got up close.

First thing Rainbow Dash noticed, were her crutches. There were two on both of her fore hooves, and as she sat on her flank in the chair, it gave off the impression that she was spider-like. The second thing Dash noticed was the fact that she addressed Gilda before her. "It's good to see you again Gilda," Twilight commented. And then Twilight looked and noticed Dash.

"Dash," Twilight stated in shock, almost out of breath.

Tears welled up behind Dash's eyes, and she ran towards Twilight and hugged her tightly. Fortunately for Twilight, nothing broke. Dash tried to restrain her cries within her throat, but with no such luck. She made choking sounds before finally succumbing to the sobbing. Gilda watched this from the doorway, and wondered why in the world would she try to disrupt friendship like this?

Dash pulled away, "Twilight….you're alive."

Twilight smiled, "Aren't I always?"

Dash shook her head as Twilight pulled up a chair for Dash to sit in. Dash took the chair and smiled as she spoke to Twilight. "I mean, this is crazy….it's been like years…..I have no clue what to ask you or where to begin."

"Neither do I," Twilight acknowledged. "It's been so long I think I've forgotten how to talk to my friends."

At this point, Dash looked behind her and noticed Gilda. A deep scowl went across the neon-blue Pegasus's face, and she turned back to Twilight with a smile. "Well, for one thing, I guess we can start by talking about Gilda."

Gilda looked bamboozled and bewitched. This was outright childish. Gilda knew that she had done wrong, why subject her to more torment?

"Yes, lets," Twilight said with a smile. "I have so much to talk about referring to old Gilda here,"

In the back of her mind, Rainbow Dash was curious as to why Twilight would say that. But in the precociousness, Rainbow Dash simply shrugged off the comment. She was just glad to see her friend once again. She also was really looking forward to humiliating Gilda, making sure the Griffon would never pull a stunt like this again.

"You won't believe what Gilda said about you," Rainbow Dash commented. Her smile continuously got bigger due to her happiness. "She said that you believed she was a superhero." Rainbow Dash laughed. "I mean, isn't that crazy?!"

Twilight frowned. "It's not crazy. In fact, I think it's true."

Dash's smile suddenly vanished. It took a while for her to process the words, but when she did, it struck terror into her heart. "…what?" she stated, hoping to Celestia that she misheard what her old friend said.

"It took some deep thought, but the more I think about it, the more my theory starts to make sense," Twilight proclaimed. "There are still many holes to work out but, all in all, I say there's a 75 to 85% chance that I'm right."

Dash had studied Twilight's eyes while the purple pony spoke. She watched for any signs of insanity or derangement in those eyes. The certain features Dash was searching for blew up right in front of her eyes when she actually studied them. By the end of Twilight's short speech, Dash was awestruck and filled with dread. She turned to Gilda, puzzled by the whole thing. The griffon returned Dash's look with a nod of her head.

'Gilda's right,' Dash thought with horror. 'Twilight's gone.'

She heard Twilight laugh to herself under her breath. That laughter, although like a whisper, scared Rainbow to death. She couldn't be gone! Something was up.

"Twilight…are you ok?" Dash asked with concern as she raised a hoof to Twilight's head; an instinctive response to see if the sick were getting sicker.

"Never better," Twilight stated with a smile. Then, she looked to her fore hooves, and raised the crutches. "I mean, of course I still got my disease to handle, but I try to manage."

"Disease?" Dash inquired shocked.

"Osteogenesis Imperfect," Twilight informed her old friend. "Basically, my bones are like glass." The purpled pony laughed. "I was a little worried when you went to hug me. I was afraid I'd lose a section of my spine."

Dash looked towards the ground, dazzled.

Twilight shot her left eyebrow up inquisitively. "Um….are you ok?"

Dash returned her comment, filled with anger. She wasn't angry at Twilight, she was just mad. She was mad at Gilda, she was mad at this….thing that Twilight had become, she was mad at the world; she just had so much pent up anger that she had to let it out.

"I asked you that question," Dash stated with vigor as she began to stand. "What, did one too many falls break your mind too! Twilight, do you realize how insane your theory sounds?! Superhero's belong in comic books and fantasy because THEY DON'T EXIST!"

What terrified Gilda and Dash even more was the fact that Twilight remained calm, cool, and collective just as she was before the conversation took a strong turn for the worst. She huffed out a disappointed sigh, and then said, "I have proof that states otherwise."

"What proof?" Dash asked with a mix of skepticism and actual wonder.

"Well, first of all, after my talk with Gilda," Twilight began as she acknowledge the griffon standing in the corner, "I've came up with three points which support my theory. Point #1. Out of 200 passengers, Gilda is the sole survivor who emerged miraculously unharmed. Point #2. I assumed Gilda checked old records and files once she received the letter on the windshield, would I be correct?"

Gilda slowly nodded her head. Dash was a little confused but then remembered the day Big Mac attacked the priest, and then realized, 'wait….twilight placed the card on the windshield?'

"Good," Twilight responded to Gilda. "Because that just supports my second point, which is even before the crash, she suffered multiple accidents and never once was injured or sick growing up."

"What about the cart accident?" Dash asked amazed.

"That's just one of the many holes in my theory, but in comparison with the theory as a whole, it's actually not that big of a deal."

This set Dash off. "NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?! SHE COULD NO LONGER PLAY STORMBALL!"

"I have a theory to that as well," Twilight responded still cool and collective. "I believe that if she truly was injured, she would've received some x-rays with her medical documents." She turned to the Griffon, who now seemed to be shrinking away in embarrassment. "Did you receive any x-rays?"

When Gilda spoke, it blew Dash's mind. "No. It just stated that I had a wing injury."

Twilight smiled. "I believe that Gilda is suffering from a strange and distorted version of post-traumatic stress disorder, and in her autopilot stage after the accident, she told the doctors that she was injured, but she really wasn't."

"Why in Equestria would she say that?" Dash said shocked. "Stormball was her life."

"I don't know. It's another hole in the theory. A much bigger hole, but I believe some Hypno-therapy might help Gilda remember the events." Twilight was silent for a few moments. Her eyes darted away and stared off into the distance. Then, she turned back to Dash.

"But my third and final point…..I believe it might be the biggest factor to comprehend." Twilight then looked at Gilda. "Gilda, you said that you feel a type of Sadness every morning, is that true?"

Gilda was somewhat surprised that Twilight brought this up into the conversation, but all she could really do in reply was nod her head and support what the purple pony just said.

Twilight looked Rainbow Dash and Gilda straight in the eyes, and began her lecture. "There's a term passed around in the comic book fan community which refers to when a protagonist has a moment where he decides to down the cloak and cowl. We call this 'the calling.' It basically means that even though it took a radioactive spider or a red sun to make the character super strong or have x-ray eyes, The character always had this compelling notion to do something, they just were not sure what that something was. They felt out of place in the world; different."

"They felt like they were underwater, and that the way to the surface is right in front of them, but they just don't know how to reach it," Gilda spoke aloud, realizing what Twilight was saying. It basically all summed up to the fact that hedonism went along hand in hand with the superhero life style. If it felt right, chances are, it typically was right.

"When was the last time you were happy?" Twilight asked.

This question somewhat ticked off Gilda and she responded with a crude stare and a bark. "Just three days ago. My boyfriend and I went out on this date and I couldn't have been happier, even if I went to heaven."

Twilight nodded her head. "Then it's meant to be." Twilight stated. "But let's talk about everything before Ponyville," Twilight clarified. "What is it that you decided to do, after you left the flight academy?"

Gilda shrugged her shoulders. "I became a security guard," she stated in a matter of fact way.

"But why?" Twilight asked inquiringly.

"The pay was good," Gilda stated. "It was an easy job to acquire, and beside Stormball, it made me-"

And that's when it struck her. That's when she realized what Twilight was trying to refer to in her conversation. It was a revelation. It scared Gilda because it a sense, it somewhat meant that Twilight was right. She didn't want to admit it, but aside from the fact that superheros only exist in fantasy, Twilight was hinting at something right.

"….happy," Gilda stated out of breath.

"Exactly," Twilight remarked like a scientist exclaims 'eureka.' "Don't you think that's kind of weird? That you choose this job on your own even before you realized what was at stake?"

Rainbow Dash looked at this and laughed. It was absurd, but the fact that Twilight showed some of that 'librarian,' attitude she once had in her speech, it reminded Dash of the old days. "You got a strange brain Twilight Sparkle."

"You've could've been a million other things," Twilight continued with Gilda. "You've could've opened up a chain of restaurants, you could've been a writer or a musician. There were a million jobs to choose from but in the end, you choose to protect ponies."

After Twilight had said this, a thick cloud of silence fell amongst the three. It became very clear, very quickly as to what just happened. Twilight had won. Gilda wasn't going to fight crime anytime soon, but she somehow, in some way, brought some evidence to light that made her argument compelling, if now downright scientific. The expression that Gilda and Dash had on their faces could be summed up into one word; speechless.

Then, Twilight smiled. "Now, all I need is your credit card."

Dash remained stunned. Gilda, however, cackled. Then, she started to chuckle, until finally, she released so much laughter that Dash thought her friend went off the deep end with Twilight. She was laughing so hard that she couldn't breathe and she had tears in her eyes. Finally, the laughter subsided and Gilda began to wipe the tears away as she looked at Rainbow dash.

"….it's an inside joke," Gilda said with a smile.

* * *

Just a few minutes later, the three found themselves waiting in line at a hot dog stand, waiting to grab some grub before the gang. Gilda decided that maybe she had treated Twilight a little too harshly. Sure, her ideas were unorthodox and strange, but then again, whose wasn't? Gilda decided a long time ago that nobody was ever normal, and Twilight wasn't an exception to this rule. The Griffon decided that she needed a way to apologize to Dash and giver her Pegasus friend a way for her and Twilight to catch up on lost time. What better way than through a Stormball game.

The cyan blue Pegasus was just shaking with excitement; stoked to have her friend back. "Are you a big sports fan now of days Twilly?"

The purple unicorn smiled meekly as she tried to balance herself on her crutches. "It's starting to intrigue me."

Gilda noticed how the crowd in front of them started to diminish. "Usually the fans start to take their seats five minutes before kickoff."

Some unidentified pony brushed her shoulder.

And then it happened. Just like it did on the train, another one of her headaches occurred. The ringing in her ears got violent, and suddenly, she had visions. She saw a gun, tucked away in a scarf around a pony's neck. And she heard gunshots. She groaned in agony as the head – ache attacked her frontal lobe.

"Gilda?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously and filled with concern. "What's wrong?"

And then it was over. In a flash, everything was gone. It was almost like a dream. She still stood in line and everything was normal. The only exception to the normalcy was that Dash and Twilight were looking at her funny.

Suddenly, Gilda got this compulsion. It was something she had to do.

"I'll be right back," she told them.

She walked towards the front of the line and noticed another old friend of her back when she was a security guard; Howard. Howard was a colt with a grayish-blue coat and a white mane. He was one of those "smooth talkers." They're the type of colts who always try to seem hip and cool when in actuality, they were somewhat low in self-esteem. The only difference between Howard and most cool cats was that Howard was actually able to pull it off and become good friends with Gilda for a while.

Gilda made her way towards Howard, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Howard," she began.

The pony turned his head towards her and smiled. "Hey! Gilda! What's happin sister?"

"Nothing much, just came here to watch the game," she stated.

"Right on, right on," Howard replied.

"Hey, could you do me a favor?" Gilda asked politely. Howard shot her back a corked brow. "Could you start scanning the line for weapons, I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen."

Howard shrugged. "Sure Gilda. I mean, when you and I worked together, when you had a hunch, 99% of the time you were right, am I right?"

Gilda smiled. Howard returned the smile and then asked the crowd to start walking towards him before grabbing their food and began to search their pockets. Suddenly, Gilda felt a hoof tap her on the shoulder and noticed that Dash and Twilight had walked towards her while she was talking to Howard.

"What's going on?" Dash asked.

Gilda motioned her hands towards the line, telling Dash and Twilight to focus there. "See that pony in the camouflage scarf?" she asked.

The two ponies squinted to find him, but they did eventually. He was in the crowd. He had a brown coat, and yellow mane, and of course, a camouflage scarf. He seemed nervous. Dash and Twilight looked back at Gilda, wondering what the Griffon was thinking.

"Sometimes fans like this one try to exercise their right to bear arms," Gilda explained. "Once the beer starts flowing and their team starts losing, somepony in the stands ends up dead." Then she pointed at the rope which all the ponies were lined up at in order to get food. "If he has anything he'll get out of line."

The three watched as the brown pony started to look more and more flustered. He started shaking, pacing back and forth, and trying desperately to look up ahead in the line, just to see who was up there. The three watched with anticipation, wondering what this brown pony was going to do next. Then, just like Gilda predicted, the brown pony ducked under the rope and started to walk away from the line. Dash was curious.

"Huh," Dash stated somewhat perplexed. "That was odd."

Twilight, however, was stunned and filled with surprise. "How did you do that?" Twilight asked Gilda breathlessly.

"Do what?" Gilda asked as she shrugged her shoulders.

"How did you know that that pony had a gun?" Twilight confirmed.

"I didn't know that he had a gun," Gilda defended herself. "It was just a suspicion. Sometimes when I use to work here, I would get major suspicion and I would act on them. You know; instinct and all."

"And you're instincts told you that he had a gun?" Twilight asked again.

"I don't know…I head this picture in my head of a Colt.45 Magnum. But he might not have been carrying a weapon at all. He could've just been carrying a knife." Gilda replied.

"But you thought it was a gun," Twilight said with emphasize.

Gilda tried her best not to scowl. She was really trying to become friends with Twilight. Unfortunately, her face started to distort. "I don't want to play this game no more,"

Dash raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying here Twilight?"

The purple pony sighed as she began to explain her ideas once more. "Look, the typical comic book machine exaggerates certain elements of the main protagonist to give off superpowers; x-ray vision, climbing walls, super speed; stuff like that. I have a theory, that all these superpowers came from real people, but they weren't super powers at all. They were just people with extraordinary gifts pertaining to certain senses; x-ray vision might've been just some pony with really good eye sight. The super speed could've come from the story of some pony like rainbow dash."

Then, using her crutches to support herself, she looked the Griffon dead on in the eye. "What I'm saying is, what if you're superheroes ability, beside the inability to get hurt, is also something simpler, like instinct?"

Suddenly, the three could hear the roar of the crowd. Rationally, they realized what was happening. The teams were walking out onto the field and the game was about to begin. Gilda was extremely excited and so was Dash. The two almost ran away before they remembered that they had Twilight with them.

When they looked back at Twilight, something didn't look right. She just stared at the ground…for a very long time.

"Hey Twilight, you coming?" Dash asked.

Twilight snapped her head up like she had just been awakened from a dream. "What….um….no thanks. I actually just remembered that I have some important work back at the shop. New orders are coming in and I got to get the art sealed and organized."

Gilda and Dash were somewhat confused by this, but they didn't let it bother them. They both assumed that aside from being a little different, Twilight was also a working Mare and probably had a lot on her plate.

"Well, ok. See ya later," Dash stated.

Twilight turned and began to wobble away. She didn't even say goodbye.

* * *

A few minutes later, Twilight was outside the stadium, waiting to catch a ride. Typically, she would try to catch a cab and if she was able to let the princesses know ahead of time, she also was able to have free private rides. The princesses spared no expense. But today, Twilight decided just to go for a cab. She sat down on the park bench and sighed. Although bored, Twilight had to admit that it was a beautiful day out. The sun was shining and there was a slight enough breeze to make everything not too hot or too cold.

She heard some hoof steps and turned her head to see who was walking past her, and her jaw literally dropped.

It was that brown mare from the line; the one Gilda assumed was packing heat.

And then something clicked in Twilight's brain. It was a stupid idea, but the purple pony was filled with so much convection that she just had to set her idea in motion. Basically, everything she said so far was just theory. But if she could obtain the weapon from the brown colt, then maybe it would be too big of a coincidence for Gilda to avoid. She would have to believe her then.

She stumbled putting her crutches back on her fore hooves, but eventually was able to do it in time. She quickly sprung up from the park bench and started to follow the brown mare. After a couple of yards of straight up stalking the poor colt, she called out, "HEY!" hoping he would respond.

It didn't look like it, but Twilight knew that he heard her. For one thing, he jumped as though he got super cold all of a sudden. Also, he began to speed up.

Twilight did her hardest to keep up with him, but due to her disability, she got out of breath super easily. It was also hard to keep a direct pace when trotting with crutches. She still called out "Hey," and would randomly throw in some words like, "Do you have a minute?" or, "I just want to ask you a question." This continued on for several minutes before the brown pony did something that struck fear into her heart.

He trotted down some stairs.

She looked at the stairs before her which lead to the train station. She looked back at her crutches, realizing what an impossible task this was before her. Her heart began to race. Several voices in her head screamed, pleading "Don't' do it! You can't!"

But she had to. She was too compelled to just give up. And so, she tried.

She stepped forward.

Everything was actually going smoothly. The stairs went into two separate sets. There were about ten stairs, a brief area where everything was flat, and then ten more stairs. She got through the first ten just fine. She took everything slowly and eventually made it to the middle area. She smiled. She was going to do this! She was going to be able to make it down some stairs for the first time in months.

Then, everything went horribly, horribly wrong.

On the second stair of the second set, her left crutch slipped out from her grasp. She began to stumble forward, trying hard to find her balance. Her pace picked up, and soon she slipped. She was airborne.

Both crutches were lost in the air. They floated down for what seemed like an eternity. When they collided with the stairs, they shattered, for the crutches were made of glass;

Much like Twilight's bones.

Pain spread throughout every inch of her body and she started to cry as she tumbled down the stairs. Her cry was gurgled with pain as she realized that she probably screwed herself up royally this time.

She ended up on the floor of the metro stairs. She was crying, loudly. She began to scream as she realized that she had failed once more. She was never meant to leave the house. She was forever fragile, forever made of glass, and would remain on one side of the spectrum for the rest of her life, with no one on the other end.

Or so she thought.

For in the briefest moment of pain on the metro floor, Twilight opened her eyes and noticed the brown colt ahead of her had stopped to see if she was following him. After his suspicions were confirmed, he began to hop over the turn stiles.

Falling from his scarf was a Colt.45 Magnum.


	8. Heavy Lifting

The game was spectacular. The Filidelphia Eagle's came out by just a two point conversion in the fourth quarter against the Manehattan Giants. The final score was Filidelphia: 22, Manhatten: 21. The stadium went into a complete uproar once the Eagle's successfully completed their conversion. Although impossible to detect through the cataclysmic wall of sound, Rainbow Dash and Gilda were defiantly the loudest. If not the loudest, the two were at least the most cheerful out of all the stadium goers on that day.

Once everything was said and done, the griffon and the pony piled onto another bus carriage to take them home. Bus carriages were all the rage in Filidelphia. The strongest and fastest ponies would pull large, humongous, zeppelin sized carriages filled with tons of ponies to and from their destination. Although Dash and Gilda could've flown back home, after the game experience, the two were somewhat lazy and tired, and decided to take the easy way home. The bus carriage would take them to the train, and the train would take them back to Ponyville. Gilda had a three step plan waiting for her when she got back to the farm. Step 1; work out. Step 2; shower. Step 3; sleep; beautiful, gracious sleep.

Once inside, Gilda took the seat closest to the window, hoping to possibly catch some extra zzz's on the way home. As the bus carriage was pulled by 4 large stallions, Gilda looked out the window and suddenly noticed something. She tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder (who was equally tired and about to fall asleep in her chair) and told her to check out what was going on outside. What the two friends saw certainly was interesting. It wasn't typical to see a large ambulance carriage located right next to a train station entrance.

"Huh?" Gilda stated aloud, somewhat intrigued. "I wondered what could've happened there."

"Who knows?" Dash stated, equally intrigued yet tired. "Somepony must've fell down the stairs."

The two shrugged their shoulders at this sight and simply talked some, rested some, and waited until their carriage arrived at their train station, which lead to Ponyville. On the train, the two drifted off into peaceful slumber.

* * *

The Griffon was jolted awake when the train stopped and her blue cyan Pegasus friend shook her. Gilda groaned and looked at Dash with tired and irate eyes. Rainbow Dash returned the look with a prankster's smile.

"Wake up sleepyhead," Dash told her friend.

Gilda smiled and begrudgingly got up from her seat. There was a minor discomfort in her ligaments as she did this. She heard several bones pop but eventually, once she was on her talons and feet, she was able to shake of her weary daze and move out of the train. Once off the train, Dash and her parted with a hug and the two flew in their separate directions; Dash to Cloudsdale; Gilda to Sweet Apple Acres.

Although dark, in the night sky, Gilda was able to detect Sweet Apple Acres and noticed that something was somewhat strange. Once she landed home (she mentally smiled at the sudden realization that she referred to the farm as home), she saw several fillies all out in the field. All of them seemed to be running in a pattern of some sort. Without warning, Gilda felt a body bump into her and fall to the ground. Looking down, she noticed Applebloom, holding a storm ball and smiling back at the Griffon.

"Hi Gilda," Apple bloom said in her thick southern accent.

Gilda smiled and picked up the filly, brushing her off. "Hi Applebloom. Playing hoofball?"

"Nah," she replied. She gestured towards her group of friend from school who were waiting in a semi-huddle behind her. "We're actually trying to learn how to play stormball. We were hoping you'd join and help us out. Please?"

Although Apple Bloom placed on her best puppy dog eyes (and it was hard to say 'no' to those eyes), Gilda smiled and looked at Apple Bloom along with all her friends (Gilda was somewhat surprised to see that more than just the CMC were on the farm to play). "I'm sorry to say but, it's impossible for earth ponies to play stormball. Stormball requires for the players to be able to fly. But don't worry. Hoofball is basically the same thing. Besides, I couldn't help you anyways. I had that accident back in college, remember?"

Apple Bloom looked dismayed. "Yeah, but Twilight said-"

Gilda's eyes went wide and before the little filly could say any more, Gilda placed a talon to her muzzle and told her "SHHH!" Apple bloom looked somewhat frightened, but Gilda's eyes assured her that she meant no harm. And so, after the initial couple of seconds of shock, Apple bloom calmed down and waited for Gilda to explain why she had her talon over her mouth.

Meanwhile, Gilda looked around, praying to Celestia that neither Big Mac, nor an especially Applejack were nearby. If either one of them heard Apple Bloom talking about Twilight Sparkle, questions would be raised; the questions would then turn to accusations, and before anypony or griffon could stop it, a full out argument would emerge and Gilda did not want that. Luckily for Gilda, no pony besides Apple Bloom and her friends were in sight. Gilda calmed down and removed her talon.

"I know what Twilight said," Gilda stated, "But she also said that I was a superhero and that's just crazy, right?"

Gilda anxiously waited for Apple Bloom to shake her head. Sadly, although Apple Bloom did perform this action, the griffon could tell that there was no heart in it, and that Apple Bloom still believed that Gilda was a superhero. It was time to change the subject.

"and as fun as it would be to help you guys out," Gilda told Apple Bloom. "I have to work out right now."

The little filly's eyes shined like stars. "OHHH! Can I help?"

Gilda corked a brow in confusion. "Uh…..I guess so," and the two went into the barn while the band of little fillies dismissed their game, hoping for a rematch soon.

Gilda's heart raced as she pushed up on the bench press bar. She couldn't believe how heavy everything felt. Her eyes were practically bulging out her skull and her face was turning red due to lack of oxygen. Still, however, from some mere miracle, the Griffon was able to complete 10 sets of bench presses before placing the bar on its stand above her. Once free of the weight, Gilda breathed a sigh of sweet relief. Then she got up, and stared her spotter down.

"How much did you put on there?" Gilda asked Apple Bloom.

The little filly stood in front of Gilda with a blank expression. This caused Gilda to get somewhat frightened and so she took the initiative of checking the weights herself instead.

The Filly and her ideological older sister were in the basement of the Apple Family house. Unlike the rest of the house, which was warm, welcoming, and family-friendly, the basement was cold, and dark, and somewhat disturbing. Gilda immediately recognized this would be the perfect place to put a workout room and so, after receiving her first paycheck within the first month of her stay at Sweet Apple Acres, the griffon acquired a bench press, several dumbbells, a 'horse-flex personal training system,' and a treadmill. It wasn't easy to get all of those assets for a reasonable price, but she got it done, and was happy to be keeping her body in shape. Like Dash, she loved working out and got a runner's high (or in this case, a flyer's high) when doing so. Sometimes she would ask if any one of the Apple's would help spot her, but most of the time the griffon spotted herself. Today, Apple Bloom decided to take the responsibility, and so far, as Gilda concluded from realizing how much weight she actually lifted, the filly wasn't doing a good job.

Gilda turned towards Apple Bloom, shocked (with herself and the filly). "You put too much. That's 250 pounds."

Apple Bloom gasped. "Oh. I'm so sorry. How much can you lift?"

Gilda was still somewhat dazed. "That's the most I've ever lifted," she stated awestruck. Then, she realized she had to be serious. "It's ok right now Apple Bloom," Gilda stated in a sister-like tone. "But that could've been very dangerous. One of us could've gotten hurt."

There was a small silence that followed this. Gilda began to think

"Why don't you go upstairs and I'll finish up down here, ok?" Gilda said to Apple Bloom.

"No," Apple Bloom retorted quickly. "Let me help you, I'll take it off. I'll help you right." And before Gilda could even deny the filly's request, Apple Bloom had moved behind her and began to work on the weights.

As this happened, Gilda went deep into her thoughts. '250 pounds?!' she thought to herself. 'Sweet Luna. The most I ever lifted before then was 180. I should've torn a muscle. Something should've broken. It was hard to do but I did it….and now I don't even feel sore. What the buck?' That confused Gilda the most. Although it was a strain, Gilda should've suffered more than just a typical burning in her muscles. But even now, the burning sensation was gone, replaced with a high that she could've even have dared to imagine; as if it was her calling to lift as much weight as possible.

Meanwhile, behind her, Apple Bloom asked, "Do you think you've could've beaten up Hoof Lee?"

Gilda sighed at this. These types of question were bombarded upon her once she showed up at Sweet Apple Acres all those months ago after the train accident. To summarize it completely, Apple Bloom was mystified that something so large was actually living with them, and so, in typical filly fashion, she began to ask Gilda if she could beat anypony up. One time, she even asked if she could beat up the princesses. Her response was 'even if I could, I doubt I'd be allowed to.' Eventually, after a couple of months, the questions died down. But all that changed after Gilda discovered Twilight at 'Limited Edition.' Now the questions were thrown at her in full force, and Apple Bloom was always the hardest to dismay from a question.

After Gilda was done sighing, she responded, "No."

"I mean, if you knew karate," Apple Bloom clarified.

"Still no," Gilda sang, somewhat amused by Apple Bloom's enthusiasm.

"Well, what if he wasn't allowed to kick, and you were like really mad at him?" Apple Bloom proposed.

Gilda smiled a little bit at this. Seeing a filly's mind at work is somewhat amusing. On the other talon, if Gilda didn't stop this now, it would continue. But, maybe it always would continue. So Gilda just brushed off these questions like she always did before, and simply replied "No Applebloom."

Apple Bloom walked back into Gilda's vision and took her place standing in front of her. Gilda saw this as her cue to get back to the weights. She began to lay down and place her talon's on the bar. Something felt funny. She probably wasn't looking at it right, but there seemed to be more weight than less. The Griffon shook off the doubts and pushed on the bar a little bit to move it forward, and then she began to do her reps.

Something was wrong. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Gilda was on the verge of passing out. She had never lifted this much weight in her life. She was in immense pain. Her muscles were on fire. It was as if every cell in her body was screaming 'AIR! WE NEED AIR!' Gilda knew that she should stop.

But something egged her on. Something got her flustered. There were nagging thoughts nagging at her. All of them could be summed up basically saying 'you can do it. C'mon. it's not that hard. One rep.' and so, curiosity got the better of her, and she began to let down and then back up for the rep.

Her face looked like a cherry tomato. She felt like she couldn't breathe. When she let out her breath, she let out more mucus than carbon dioxide. As she pushed up, she realized that she basically felt the same way she did during her last rep. she was hurting, but wasn't tearing a muscle. And although it was a strain, she was able to actually lift the weights. In fact, she was able to do three reps, before she finally got tired, and then placed the bar back on its stand. She leaned up to face Apple Bloom.

"How much did you actually take off?" Gilda asked curiously. Either Apple Bloom didn't take off much, or her muscles actually were affected from Apple Bloom's earlier experiment.

Neither was the actual outcome. Instead, Apple Bloom looked down, away from Gilda's gaze, and uttered two words that not only shocked Gilda, but caused her mind to do mental back flips.

"I lied," Apple Bloom stated apologetically.

It was as if an explosion had taken place in Gilda's mind. Her eyes went wide, and every feather on her body was standing on end in major shock. There was only one logical conclusion. But it didn't make sense. Still, even questioning her reality, she said the words exactly.

"You….added?" Gilda said in shock.

The little filly moved her head up and down, saying 'yes.'

Gilda, surprised and filled with absolute interest turned towards the dumbbells. Once she read the weights, he jaw dropped. Not only did Apple Bloom add more, she added so much more that Gilda was unsure if she should've even been able to pick the bar off the stand. And just like before, this left her wondering why she didn't feel any pain. The soreness had dissipated one more.

"How much is it?" the anxious Filly finally asked.

"300 pounds," Gilda stated awestruck.

"….Let's put more," Apple Bloom stated excitedly.

What scared Gilda the most, wasn't the fact that Apple Bloom sounded so excited to add more weight and possibly kill Gilda, but that Gilda herself, was excited to try her suggestion.

And so, more weight was added. And more and more weight was added over and over again. Each time felt exactly the same. Gilda felt some minor pain, but that's just natural in a general work out. But this couldn't be natural. There was nothing natural about a griffon lifting 320 pounds. Not to mention the fact that after lifting the said 320 pounds, she went on to lift 350 without breaking a sweat. It was sheer insanity. The two down in the basement continued like this for several minutes.

And then, after about 5 reps of Gilda's latest weight, Gilda placed the bar up and asked Apple Bloom how much she put on.

Apple bloom said three words…three words that left the biggest impression on Gilda's psyche for many years to come.

"All of it," Apple Bloom responded.

Gilda got up immediately. She analyzed the bar and dumbbells. Her face was shocked and her beak was held open, agape and surprised. There was over 385 pounds on the dumbbells, not including the bar. If she did the math correctly, the griffon would've realized that she was lifting 400 pounds total. Did it hurt while she was lifting, yes. But no…..no soreness. No torn muscles, no broken bone….

And then her thoughts retreated to something a doctor told her when she awoke from her accident almost a year ago "You don't even have a scratch on ya."

"What else could we lift?" Gilda was surprised to realize that those words actually came out of her own mouth. Nevertheless, she still wanted to see how far she could go before she actually thought she couldn't lift no more.

And so, Big Mac and Applejack were brought into the basement to see what Gilda and Apple Bloom had been up to for the last hour. Gilda demonstrated what the two had been doing, by picking up the bar, complete with dumbbells…with only one arm. What amazed everyone, even herself, was that she was able to do two complete curls. Afterwards, she placed the bar back into its holder, and Gilda began to feel wobbly; not sore, just tired.

Big Mac rushed to her side. "Are you ok?"

Gilda smiled. "I never felt better."

Applejack got a dirty grin. "Boy howdy. Big Mac, you better watch yourself. If you get out of line, it looks like my reparations ain't going to hurt the worst."

Gilda laughed at this for a little bit. Even Big Mac got a chuckle. Although one of the most humblest and simplest of farming stallions, he did have some pride. That pride, he had to swallow. It's not every day when you realize that your girlfriend can practically lift a cart filled with hay with only one talon.

Apple Bloom broke the silence. "We was wondering if she could pick you guys up."

Big Mac's eyes got real wide. "What?"

Gilda laid her talons on to his shoulders and began to smile. "Mackie, it's ok. If it hurts, I'll stop immediately."

"Gilda, are you crazy," Applejack retorted from the back. "There's no way you can lift us and the dumbbells at the same time. I mean, how much are you lifting right now."

"400 pounds," Gilda state without any reserve.

A pin drop could've been heard a mile away. Now the sudden realization of everything kicked in. Not only was Gilda able to lift 400 pounds, but she didn't a second ago with one talon. And from the way she was acting, although somewhat out of breath, she was in no physical pain.

"How are you not sore?" Big Mac asked his Griffon.

"I'll probably be sore in the morning," Gilda told him. "But…for some reason…..I don't care. I want to see how far I can push myself before reparations."

Big Mac got a look in his eye that Gilda noticed before. It was a look of worry. But Gilda dismayed his fears. She casually pecked him in the check. He blushed, but realized there was no need for embarrassment. Now that Applejack knew about their relationship, there really was nothing to hide.

Gilda reassured her stallion. "Mackie," she said. "I promise you this. I would not hurt the one you love, because in the end, that would only hurt the one I truly love."

Big Mac and Applejack casually trotted over to the dumbbells. That got on either side and held on tightly, hoping to become weights. Gilda laid down on the bench press, and placed her talons on the bar. This was it. No turning back. She kissed her tail-feather goodbye, and began to push up.

It should've been impossible. The bar should've fallen down and slammed into Gilda's chest. The bar should've broken some ribs. All of this should've gone horribly wrong in some horrible way. In a logical world, that would've happened.

…..but…miraculously, Gilda was able to lift them up in the air. It was insanity. Applejack was quoted along the lines of saying, "Boy howdy!" as loud as she possibly could when she got lifted into the air. Big Mac simply laughed as he realized that his girl was quite possibly the strongest being he had ever met in his life, both mentally and PHYSICALLY! Eventually, eveypony in the room laughed. And Gilda, while doing her reps with the two ponies in place, laughed as well.

This, was single-handedly, the weirdest/happiest moment of her life.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Filidelphia hospital, a nurse was currently doing one of her mandatory procedures with a new patient. The nurse held a clipboard close to her eyes and began reading off the injuries her new patient sustained in whatever accident she was in. The chart said that her patient simply fell down some stairs, but the list of broken bones was so large that the nurse suspected that there had to be something more at play than just a simple fall. She got her answer when she noticed that chart stated her patient suffered from "Osteogenesis Imperfecta." 'That explains everything,' thought the nurse. Still, however, she continued to read.

"You have a fracture of the carpus as well as several fractures sustained in the sixth, seventh, and eight ribs," the nurse read off. "But the worst of the injury however was sustained in the right back leg. You've suffered a spiral fracture. There were 14 breaks. It's completely shattered…."

The nurse paused to look at her patient. The nurse felt so bad looking at the mare lying in the hospital bed. She seemed so depressed, dazed, and confused. What made it even worst was that she saw that her patient was trying to get away from the reality of the situation. The mare had that look in her eyes of pure torture. She wanted to escape, and the only escape she had was provide in her mind. The nurse felt the need to address this.

"Ma'm," she asked. "Are you ok?"

The purple pony in the hospital bed sighed bitterly with disappointment. "They call me the mare of glass bones," Twilight Sparkle announced to herself.

* * *

Rarity washed her hoofs one last time. She felt overburdened with all the work she had to do. However, being generous, she decided that she needed to find a way to help out. She received this opportunity, when she learned from Nurse Betty, that extra hoofs were needed at the center of disability in Filidelphia to help recovering patients in physical rehabilitation.

And so, Rarity got suited up, and followed the nurse she was paired with on that day, and got behind the lunch counter to serve the food. It was somewhat sad seeing all these ponies, filled with many injuries line up waiting to be served what only could've been considered 'slop,' food, in Rarity's humblest opinion.

But the smiles that these broken ponies and fillies, stallions and colts gave off filled Rarity's heart to the brim with happiness. They were amazingly happy even though the food looked so gross. They just were happy to have food at all. And their happiness lifted Rarity's happiness. It was all turning out to be a good day.

The last pony in line scooted up in her wheel chair. Before even analyzing the pony, Rarity asked, "Can I help you," politely and filled with joy.

And then the pony looked up.

Time could've stopped in that moment. Rarity felt like she was going to faint. The pony herself, in the wheel chair, looked as if though she would have a heart attack as well. The two stared into each other's eyes for a long time. Years. It had been years since they last seen each other, and now, they have finally, reunited.

"Twilight Sparkle?" Rarity stated, jaw slack with disbelief.

Twilight smiled. "It's good to see you again."


	9. Still Phobic of Water?

The two ponies spent the next two hours talking about many things. It takes a while for two friends to get back on track with how things have been for the other. And Since Rarity was able to go on break, she intended to take as much time as possible reminiscing on old memories, and gaining new ones with Twilight Sparkle. They talked about many things. They talked about personal endeavors, other accidents they had in the past, and also the subject of work came up.

In fact, it was the first thing that came up.

"So what do you do now of days?" Rarity asked Twilight once they found a table to sit at.

The purple pony played with her food for a little bit. The sight of it sent off internal reflexes inside her mind telling her to flee. Hospitals aren't typically well known for their cuisine. But knowing that salt, pepper, ginger, spices or any other form of food additive would be able to cause an allergic reaction due to her pain killers, she decided she would rather have stale food.

She looked back up at Rarity, and smiled. "I still manage a library of sorts. I sell books and art now."

Rarity raised a brow. "Really? That's fascinating. I never figured you'd actually sell your books."

Twilight chuckled slightly and waved her hooves in a calming motion. "Oh no no no, I still keep those books," Twilight informed her estranged companion. "I just now get paid to buy books and then resell them."

Rarity finally figured it out. "Ahhh, so you're a book retailer."

"That's right," Twilight stated. "Comic books, to be more specific."

"Really now," Rarity stated enthusiastic and filled with curiosity. "What a coincidence. Just two weeks ago we had an old friend run by a comic book store. Remember a certain bully by the name of Gilda?"

Twilight finished sipping her tea (which was bland and filled with no flavor), and then responded to Rarity's question. "Definitely. She stopped by my shop two weeks ago as well."

This caught Rarity's attention immediately. Her usual fashionable and refined mannerisms were quickly thrown to the wind to be replaced by a curious and downright concerned attitude. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Gilda went to your shop?"

"Yeah," Twilight responded in a matter of fact way. "I was very eager to meet her. I mean, after her story got blasted on the news for a little bit, I'm pretty sure every pony wanted to get a glimpse of the indestructible griffon. But I never was expecting her to stop by my shop while I was there."

This sentence confused Rarity. "So wait…..you weren't expecting to see her at your shop…..but you knew she would visit the shop sometime?"

"Mmmhhmm," Twilight stated. "I left a note on her cart a few days before she came and visited me. This was strange because I wasn't expecting to see her go to the funeral procession. I mean, after that horrendous train accident; it must've been hard for her to cope with seeing all those dead ponies."

This really caught the marshmallow mare's attention. "Wait! That was your note?"

"Oh, you were there too?" Twilight stated somewhat surprised.

"Yeah," Rarity replied almost out of breath. Something was starting to make sense, and she didn't like what that 'something' was.

"Oh, well that's a shame," Twilight said, referring to herself. "I should've stayed. I could've visited with all of you girls at once again. Don't take this the wrong way, but, why were you there with Gilda?"

"She got rid of her apartment back in Filidelphia and is now living with the Apple family on their farm," Rarity explained. And, due to the fact that her gossiping nature wouldn't allow her to depart from such a topic without adding a hint of spice to the conversation, "I hear that Big Mac and Gilda are becoming quite the item."

This caught Twilight's attention full on. "Really?" she stated; eyes wide with surprise. But it was a happy surprise.

"Oh yeah," Rarity described. "She won't tell any pony this but I have a feeling that Gilda believes Big Mac is that 'one' special somepony."

Twilight looked back down at her tea. "From what you've told me, it sounds like Gilda doesn't talk about a lot of stuff."

Rarity cocked a brow. "Whatever do you mean Twilight?"

"Well, think about it," Twilight stated. "Gilda meets me, at my shop, two weeks ago, and tells nopony about it, it's obvious that she's got something to hide."

"Yeah…." Rarity stated to herself as her thoughts quickly drifted away.

Her eyes fell to her side as she began to follow these said thoughts. These thoughts were filled with outrageous rage and terrible, bitter anger. 'How dare that Griffon not tell any pony that Twilight Sparkle was alive?' she thought. Or, 'I was Twilight's friend long before that griffon came along. I have a right to know how my friend was doing, and she did nothing!' As these thoughts progressed so did their anger. And as most ponies know, Rarity was a mare that rarely got mad. Oh no, she simply just got 'even.'

"So how's Gilda doing now?" Twilight asked with concern for her marshmallow pony.

"Oh, she's doing fine," Rarity responded. "She had to help out with Pinkie Pie today in setting up some cake for a party. She has to work today and tomorrow. The party is supposed to be big."

And that's when the light bulb went off in her head. The refined pony gained a mischievous grin.

"Say Twilight," Rarity began. "I just realized that if I haven't seen you, I'm pretty sure the rest of the mane six hasn't either."

"Actually, Rainbow Dash visited me yesterday before the accident," Twilight responded.

Rarity shrugged and tossed her hoof in the air, "Regardless," she stated (on the inside however, she was boiling with rage. Rainbow Dash even knew and told no pony! Now, there were two on Rarity's hit list involved in her elaborate revenge heist). "I was thinking that, if I can sign you out of the hospital tomorrow afternoon, we can hold a welcome back party."

Twilight smiled brightly. "Really?" she stated with glee. "That would be amazing! I've been dying to see all my friends again."

"Don't worry, we've been dying as well to see you too," Rarity told her.

At that particular moment, the two ponies, although both wanting a party, wanted the party for complete different reasons. Rarity simply wanted revenge; and the best revenge always involves humiliation. Gilda and (unfortunately) Dash would be placed on the hot seat. Questions would be asked and answers would be given or by Celestia, Rarity will choke answers out of them. They had to own up to the biggest mistake they've made ever. And it would be slow, tedious, awkward, and filled with tension; just the way Rarity liked it.

Twilight however thought; 'she fell for my trap. Perfect!'

* * *

*the next day*

Yesterday was pretty hectic. Today was just miserable. It was as if all discord had broken loose inside Sugarcube Corner; or at least it had in Gilda's mind. In the midst of all the orders flying in during lunch shift, the Cake's had requested assistance in the cake they had prepared the night before for the party today. Pinkie had to help the cake's which left Gilda behind the counter. And with each passing pony; with all their silence, dumb expressions, and their inabilities to order something in no less than 2 minutes flat, Gilda was becoming more and more impatient.

It also didn't help that her head ache's had made a comeback. At first Gilda blamed the workout the night before. Maybe she worked out to hard and pulled something in her brain (….it happens; sorta). Whatever the case, taking orders from stupid Neanderthals of ponies didn't help subside the headache's one bit. In fact, it increased the pain of the headaches tremendously.

After 2 hours of working behind the counter, Gilda started to realize that something was incredibly off. It almost seemed that the headaches were coming at her at specific times. Then she realized that while the attitudes and behaviors of the clients were indeed infuriating, they did not invoke her headaches. It was only when she took their bits and coins, and actually touched their hooves that Gilda received a tremendous throbbing pain in her skull. Why was skin contact causing headaches?

Then she realized that with each bit taken in, with each headache she received, it was almost as if she was seeing something. There was always a flash of bright light, and intense pain, a strange noise, and then she was back to reality. It was starting to make Gilda panic. She made the sudden realization that she had not had headaches this bad ever since the train accident. In fact, this head ache was like the train accident.

And that's when it clicked.

Her eyes went wide. Her pupil's dilated. She was shocked and filled with fear. These were not headache's she was experiencing. This was her superpower; instinct; the ability to know when something bad was about to happen, or if some pony had done bad things.

Case in point; she distinctly remembered one order where a mother had ordered two cupcakes, one for herself, and one for her child. Gilda had noticed that the child seemed different. Most fillies were bright and filled with energy. This one seemed cold, frighten, and intimidated by some strange outside force. When Gilda had taken the mother's money, in her white flashes of headaches, she heard the distinct noise of a child screaming 'Mommy,' and then something which sounded familiar to striking.

Perhaps the mother was abusing her child.

At the time, Gilda shrugged it off as a headache. But now, Gilda felt ashamed and frightened. She was ashamed for not doing anything. She was frightened because now she knew what these headaches meant. So what would she see in the next customers?

As she started focusing on what the headaches told her, she began to worry. It was almost a sickening experience; to see what some ponies had did to others in the past. The acts of violence or depravation that Gilda saw were terrible enough. The worst part however was that it felt like an invasion of the customer's privacy. It was unintentional voyeurism, and Gilda felt ill about it.

One male pony handed her some bits, and she had a vision of a cart running towards a sidewalk. On the sidewalk stood two other ponies. The customer was in the cart and leaned out to break a bottle of whatever over one of the sidewalk pony's' faces. The cart sped off as the customer screamed 'go back to the woodlands were you belong,' and then the vision faded.

Another customer, a female, handed her some bits, and she saw something truly awful. In her white, blinding vision, she saw a poor defenseless male stallion strapped down to a bed, gagged and in pain. The female pony (the customer) stood at the side of the bed near a fireplace, and in the fire, she began heating a poker. Once the rod was hot, she stood above the young stallion (who, In Gilda's fleeting vision, looked like he belonged in Jr. High) and chuckled. She whispered seductively, "Mommy needs to punish her baby," and then stuck the poker to his skin. Flesh burned and the stallion screamed; not in pleasure, but in pain. And then the vision was over.

The last customer before Gilda had to leave came in wearing a long trench coat and a strange straw hat. He asked for a chocolate muffin, and Gilda reached into the display case and removed one for the colt's order. "That will be $3.75." The colt complied and pulled out the cash, and as he handed it to her, she took it. Just like before, one of her talons touched his hoof and she had another headache. A white light flashed in her eye and her vision unfolded before her.

In her vision, she saw the customer standing on the street corner. A young filly, no more than Applebloom's age, walked past him. He whispered loudly, catching the young colt's attention, and he whispered "Hey Kid, try this out." He opened up his trench coat to reveal narcotics; narcotics that were recreational and highly illegal such as moon patches, vraxion, DMZ and moon rocks. The kid slowly walked over and paid the stallion with the trench coat and received a bag of moon rocks and vraxion. As this happened, the vision began to fade, and the unmistakable sound of a mother was heard, screaming at the top of her lungs "MY BABY, MY BABY IS DEAD! WHY?! WHY?!"

Gilda came back to the real world in a flash. Like the vision before it, she was somewhat troubled. A small sweat began to break out on her forehead. Her eyes were still somewhat dilated and she had to breathe heavily for a bit. To the customer, it appeared the Gilda was becoming ill.

"Hey, are you ok?" the stallion in the trench coat asked.

Gilda could've done the rational thing. She could've told the stallion that she was fine and just went on about her business, placing the money into the register and leaving it at that. In fact, that's what she should've done. But for some reason, she couldn't take it anymore. She was compelled to know the truth. Was she really seeing the truth, or was her brain bucking with her? There was only one way to find out.

She reached across the counter and grabbed the stallion's trench coat, tugging at him hard. This action was met with some resistance, as the stallion started to shout "hey!" really loudly. To any onlooker, this wouldn't look good in Gilda's favor. The stallion was generally frightened with what was happening, while Gilda had a wild eye look of a griffon pushed to the edge of insanity. To any onlooker, it appeared that Gilda was the aggressor. In fact, there was an onlooker; Pinkie Pie and the Cake's.

"Gilda! What in the name of hopping trombones is wrong with you," Pinkie shouted as she raced to the counter, trying to pull Gilda back. The Cake family was equally shocked, and tugged on Gilda's feathers as well.

As this happened, Gilda's talons had finally reached inside the frantic stallion's trench coat. She began searching endlessly and was starting to feel relieved, feeling absolutely nothing there. But then she felt the thin resistance of a baggy. And when she felt the mushy outside of the contents in the bag, there was no denying it. This stallion did carry drugs, and if her vision did anything, it only told her that this stallion also sold to minors.

It was such a tremendous shock that Gilda forgot about the scene before and simply lost all her strength. She went flying backwards into Pinkie and the Cakes as they finally were able to pull Gilda away from the customer. The customer, as predicted, acted with complete discuss. In his anger he shouted "You ponies are crazy! Keep that Griffon on a leash," and he fled Sugarcube Corner in rage.

The group on the floor gradually got up, with Gilda being the first to do so. She pulled herself up and off the pile by placing her talons onto the counter and yanking herself up. After a few seconds of catching her breath, she felt a consolidating hoof touch her on the left shoulder. She heard Pinkie Pie asking "Gilda? What the heck happened there?"

From the floor, as they emerged, Mr. Cake asked "Gilda, what's going on?"

In a daze, out of breath and possibly out of her mind, Gilda huffed "I don't know…..it's just…today has been…..headache's…I don't even…..so sorry….."

"Were the customer's driving you up the wall today?" Mrs. Cake asked.

With a long, solitary pause helping Gilda reclaim her thoughts, she stated "Yes."

At that particular moment, the phone rang. Mrs. Cake went to the back room to answer it. Pinkie left her hoof on Gilda's shoulder, wanting to make sure that her new friend was actually Ok. After the few seconds of silence, Mr. Cake made his concerns noted when he suggested to Gilda "Why don't you take the rest of the day off? It's obvious that you need some rest from last night and I hear that you have a party to go to today as well."

"Yeah," Pinkie added. "You don't want to be a great big meanie pants to our friends today."

"Pinkie!" Mr. Cake scolded.

"What?" Pinkie said, unsure of how what she said was offensive.

"No, she's right," Gilda commented as she hid her head into the space where her arms folded over each other. "I just don't know if I have the time to go and where to go."

Coming back into the room, Mrs. Cake added her two cents. "Well, it looks like you will have to leave early. You need to pick up Applebloom."

"Why's that?" the Griffon stated concerned.

"It seems Applebloom's been in a fight at school."

* * *

As Gilda approached Mrs. Cheerlie's classroom, she felt a million thoughts traveling through her head all at the same time. All of them could simply be summed up by the emotion of pure shock. How in Equestria did Applebloom, the kindest and simplest of earth fillies, get into a fight at school; a school brawl no less. When Gilda received the news, she did what any rational being would do, and called the school, asking if what happened actually happened, and how it happened. Apparently, a teacher had noticed Applebloom taking on 5 other earth ponies, all male, viciously attacking them and bucking one of them in the teeth. When the teacher approached them, the 5 all fled, and Applebloom was left to take the heat. But apparently, she was beaten up as well, as apparent by the lacerations to her face and the blood trickling down her nose when the teacher sent her to the office.

Usually Applejack dealt with things like this involving Applebloom. They were rare, but when and if they did happened, it was usually Applejack who gave the talk or who picked her up from detention, which was what Gilda was doing now. Today, Applejack had to deal with the assailment of fruit bats and trying to rid them once and for all. So it was Gilda who had to fill in for today.

She waited outside the door, feeling strange sense of fear. Realizing that she better get the process over with, Gilda knocked on the door three times and waited. When the door opened, Gilda did not meet Cheerlie. Instead, a sub was called in on that day and so Gilda met her. She was a tall, yellow Pegasus with a brown mane which contained white highlights.

She nodded her head, and exclaimed "You must be Gilda."

"Yes mam," Gilda stated swiftly and with much respect; subs need as much respect as possible.

"Please come in," The Pegasus instructed.

As Gilda walked in, she saw Applebloom. There could've never been a more perfect portrait of a disobedient student if she saw one. The fore hooves were crossed over each other and Applebloom's face had distorted into a strange pout. She had a bloody piece of tissue shoved up her nose to stop the bleeding. While she did look angry, Applebloom also looked confused and Gilda didn't like it one bit.

"Applebloom," she stated. "Look at me."

The apple sister looked up at Gilda very quickly, and then immediately turned her gaze away once more. Gilda looked at the teacher in disbelief. "She usually never acts like this," Gilda stated in shock.

The teacher nodded her head. "She was perfectly ok this morning," the teacher commented. "She was the perfect angle. I just don't see how she could've gotten into a fight. "

"That's because you weren't there to see what I saw!" Applebloom interrupted loudly and filled with anger.

Gilda returned AppleBloom's outburst with one of her one. "And what exactly did you see?! Please, tell us!"

"I don't want to tell the teacher!" Applebloom screamed. "I only want to tell you."

This type of rude behavior was simply unbecoming. It shocked Gilda tremendously. This wasn't the Applebloom she knew and love. This wasn't the little sister she wished she always had. Something was troubling the crusader greatly and Gilda needed to find out exactly what it was. And if Applebloom wasn't going to tell it with the teacher present…

"Go wait outside, I'll talk with the teacher and sign the things I need to in order to release you," Gilda commanded. Then, looking to the sub, Gilda added "If that's ok with you?"

With a sigh, the Pegasus nodded her head and said "Applebloom, you're free to go."

The yellow filly hopped out of her desk and immediately galloped out the door. Gilda just stared onward, feeling completely discombobulated by the whole experience. She looked to the teacher in absolute astonishment. Gilda realized that this may be the first time she ever, truly, was at a loss for words.

"I just don't know what's gotten into her," Gilda stated. "She usually is so nice at home, and around me she's always on her best behavior."

"Why's that?" the Pegasus asked, voiced laced with true concern.

"She's always trying to impress me. I'm like a hero to her or something," Gilda replied.

The teacher hummed in agreement. "I see, especially considering your circumstance."

"You've obviously seen the news," Gilda commented.

"Oh yes," the teacher said. "I was so surprised. It had been at least 25 years since we last met. And I was like, 'how strange is it to see someone you know on the news.'"

…

Gilda froze. Everything in her froze. Her heart froze, her mind froze, and even her perception of time seemed to stop at that particular moment. What the teacher said, it caught her attention drastically. Speaking with a dry throat of anxiety, she said "An old friend?"

The Pegasus took off her glasses. "You really don't remember me do you?"

Gilda shook her head 'no,' slowly.

The teacher sighed. She motioned for Gilda to sit down and Gilda complied. The sub took her position behind her desk and began to tell her story. Gilda was captivated, and when the story was finished, silence was all that filled the room.

"I was a lifeguard at the Cloudsdale pool," she relayed. "One day, the daycare brought all the little ones to the pool for a summer pool party. I remember I heard some screaming, and I turned my head and that's when I saw you. Two bullies were dunking you under water and were keeping you there for a long time. I went in to rescue you because eventually, you didn't come back up. Your heart wasn't beating for three minutes straight. You were literally dead for three minutes…..but I was able to bring you back and you told me 'please don't tell my mom and dad, they'll beat me.'…..naturally I was shocked to hear this, and so, wanting to make sure that your parents never found out, I told the medical officers presence not to write the incident down. It's been a secrete of the Cloudsdale public pool ever since. Some of the parents there even use you as a story to tell their little ones why they shouldn't horseplay under water. You've become a legend of sorts. "

As stated before, all that remained in the room was silence. Gilda sat there, totally immersed, and with a single tear falling down her eye, Gilda heard the words that made Gilda realize that she was, indeed, breakable.

"Still phobic of water?"

* * *

When Gilda and Applebloom made it to sweet apple acres, Applebloom finally told Gilda what happened at school. They waited outside on the back porch to talk to each other.

"These five boys were picking on this one mare because she had a strange cutie-mark. It was of a lantern. They told her that it was lame and started shoving her into a locker and it made her cry…it made me cry too…so I stopped it. I jumped in and I started kicking their flanks…I had to stop it…I get teased all the time for having no cutie mark and this mare was getting teased for having one?"

"You shouldn't have gotten involved like that," Gilda informed her quote unquote little sister. "You know better than to start fights. You should've got a teacher."

"I know but…..there was no time. I had to stop evil when it was present. That's the hero's code right? To defend others when they need to be defended."

That's when Gilda saw it. It plagued the back of her mind but she concluded that Applebloom got into the fight strictly for another reason entirely. But now, it was confirmed. Applebloom was, indeed, trying to impress Gilda. Applebloom was trying to be like her role model; trying to be like a hero.

"I'm no hero Applebloom," Gilda said. "I'm just an ordinary being,"

The sniffling almost killed Gilda, but watching Applebloom's face shrink wrap itself in tears tore Gilda's heart to pieces.

"No you're not!" Applebloom cried. "Quite saying that!"

And with that, Applebloom rushed into her room, leaving Gilda dumbfounded and sadden out on the front porch. Eventually she went inside and told Applebloom to get prepared for the party at Carousel Boutique. Neither one of them talked to each other as they got dressed and ready.

* * *

As Gilda flew towards Carousel Boutique, she noticed that Applebloom was acting strangely. It appeared as if though she was hiding something, and because Applebloom sat on her back, Gilda couldn't conclude if these assumptions were accurate or not. But she decided to let the little earth pony have her secrete. She, like Gilda, had already been through enough trouble for one day.

Another thing she noticed was that Macintosh's cart was parked to this side of the Boutique. The sight of this caused Gilda's heart to soar. In Rarity's terms, her beau had arrived, and Gilda couldn't wait to see him; so much so, that she landed quickly, leaving Applebloom safely behind her, and opened the door exclaiming loudly "MACKIE! YOU'RE HERE T-…."

Gilda's words got stuck in her throat when she saw the sight before her. Mackie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all stared at Gilda with disgust. Rainbow Dash sat in the back with the face of awkward pain. Meanwhile, sitting with her back facing towards her, was the one mare that shoved fear into the griffon's heart.

Sipping some tea in her wheel chair, Twilight Sparkle turned and greeted Gilda with "Gilda! It's so good to see you again. Please, join us."


	10. Zenith

After Applebloom's substitute teacher informed Gilda of their old encounter with each other, the memory of that day in the Cloudsdale public pool washed over her just like water, (how fitting). It took a while, but eventually, every single detail about that day became common, fore-front knowledge for Gilda. A comparable real world, everyday scenario would be losing one's car keys, searching the house endlessly, only to have a moment where he or she cites "Oh yeah," and then find the keys to head along their marry way. First, Gilda was trying to piece together the events in her mind, trying to understand just when and how she could've met that substitute teacher. Then, when it clicked, it wouldn't leave her skull.

And it was a memory that she gladly would've wished she never remembered in the first place.

She could never remember a time where she felt so helpless. She remembered the bullies pushing her down. She remembered the combined weight of their hooves endlessly keeping her under. She remembered the intense fear; that blinding 'shit yourself' little kid fear. She remembered that first intake of water hitting her lungs. She remembered coughing and then sinking. She remembered falling and falling and realizing that she may never come back up. She mostly remembered the helplessness.

And today, sitting at the table with the mane six, that helpless feeling had returned.

So far, no charges were thrown at her. The six, Mackie, Applebloom and Gilda all seemed to just be having a polite chit – chat with dinner. But this was far from a peaceful setting. There was no laughing (with the exception of Twilight of course), and once and a while, a vindictive or sardonic comment would be dropped, with its victims being either Rainbow Dash or Gilda.

Case in point, Rarity stated that Twilight's mane looked absolutely fabulous today.

"Why thank you Rarity," Twilight responded. "I was surprised that the nurses let me even touch a heated comb today. I had to get prepared for this special occasion, it's not very often that I get to see you guys now of days."

"It's quite alright darling, I know," Rarity stated. Then, turning her eyes slightly toward Gilda, she finished her comment. "It's obvious that friends want to try and keep as much contact as possible."

"I second your motion Rarity," Pinkie Pie said. Then she turned her eyes to Gilda. "I can't remember how long it's been since we've seen you Twilight."

"Yes Twilight," Applejack spoke in the same exact manner as Pinkie, focusing the words towards Twilight, yet the attention towards Gilda. "I can't remember. Was it three years? five?"

Fluttershy answered with more vigor and anger then the other 5 combined. "Your close Applejack. You just missed it both ways. It's been four years since we last saw our best friend."

"Oh please," Twilight exclaimed with a smile. "You're making me blush."

Gilda looked cold as stone on the outside. On the inside she was panicking like a school filly on his or her first day of school. She continued eating the meal which Rarity prepared. She wanted to make a comment about how delicious the food was, but Gilda realized that now was not the time to make friends or make small talk. If she wanted to escape this hell, she had to wait for the right moment for her to explain the situation to the rest of the 6.

That moment came when Gilda saw Dash nudge Big Mac's shoulder. All throughout the dinner, Big Mac did the same as Gilda; spoke nothing and simply ate what was on his plate. But unlike Gilda, who had to be quiet for purposes of defense, Big Mac chose to be quiet because he knew that his silence would shame Gilda the most. Even though Gilda appeared unaffected by Mackie's coldness, sadly, her heart was starting to break. Rainbow Dash, who caught on to Macintosh's act early on, tried to keep composed herself. But eventually, Rainbow Dash decided that she had to stick up for her friend.

After nudging Big Mac on his shoulder, the large stallion turned to the blue cyan pegasus. Dash motioned her hooves for Big Mac to come closer so that they two could have private conversation in whisper. From across the table, Gilda could pick out words and even read lips. The conversation between the two went something like this.

"What are you doing?" Dash asked in anger and amazement.

"What does it look like?" Big Mac answered with a question of his own.

"It looks like you're being a major nuisance to Gilda." Dash said with a sort of sadness behind her tone. "I thought you loved her."

That statement alone caused Gilda's heart to rage. That rage started to boil, and with each passing second her anger increased. But Gilda waited. She could not explode. Not just yet. The conversation between Rainbow Dash and Big Mac continued.

"I do love her," Big Mac replied with a hurt toned behind his voice.

"Then why aren't you doing anything to defend her?" Dash asked out of curiosity and bitterness.

"Because Gilda is strong and will defend herself when she finds the right time to do it," Macintosh responded with an all knowing glimmer in his eye. "If you're asking me if I want to defend her, I'd say 'of course I do,' but that isn't what's important here. She knows that she did wrong, and she's big enough and bright enough to know when to accept the responsibilities for her mistakes. She'll do it at the right time, and that time hasn't come yet. But believe me, it will. I love her to death, but what she did was just not right. You don't keep friends who've been out of contact for four years still in the dark."

Dash turned away with a sigh escaping her lips, followed by this retort. "Some boyfriend you are."

That was the straw that broke Gilda's back.

"NOW THAT'S ENOUGH!" Gilda shouted slamming her fist on the trouble.

The entire silverware jumped at this motion and caused it to rattle. The guest all looked at Gilda responsively, waiting for her to continue. They knew that the moment had arrived. This party, for better or worse, was a powder keg, and Gilda had just lit the fuse. Now all that was left was for Gilda to explain herself, and wait for the entire party to blow up in her face.

If only they knew who the party would affect, and how hard it would affect them.

Gilda had paused for quite some time. Her rage still at the apex of its fury, started to descend slowly when Gilda realized that now wasn't the time for yelling. That part would come later. Now she needed to calmly, and justly explain her side of the story.

That's one reason why Gilda restrained herself. Another reason was sitting right beside her.

Applebloom was indeed just like a little sister to Gilda, and Gilda had to make a good impression upon her. The slamming of her fisted talons was a bad show, now she had to make up for it with a good show. Also, Gilda was trying to make up for the distance that was slowly coming between them. Ever since she picked up that filly from detention today, she had act increasingly odd. Ever since they left the orchard, Applebloom had been completely silent. Something was going on, and rather than trying to get to the bottom of it, Gilda realized that if she finished the business that was in front of her, the business dealing with Twilight Sparkle, the more likely she could figure out why Applebloom remained so secluded.

Clenching her eyes shut, Gilda sighed out the last of her bitter hatred for Dash's comment, and began her defense plea.

"Look, don't go and think that Big Mac is doing the wrong thing," Gilda told Dash. "His actions are completely justifiable."

"Unlike yours," Applejack commented.

Gilda clenched her beak.

"I made a mistake," she tried to explained. But just at that moment, she was rudely interrupted.

"You're damn right," Fluttershy reacted coldly; kindness draining from her composure.

"Ok," Gilda interjected a little loudly. "What do you want me to do?! I will apologize, but the fact of the matter is, is that once I explain my reasons for not telling you guys about Twilight, you'll see that while I made the wrong decision, I was also justified into making that bad decision."

"And what might those reasons be?" Pinkie Pie said with an angry glare in her eyes.

"She's crazy!" Rainbow Dash shouted from her side of the table.

The entirety of those at the table stared at Rainbow Dash in shock. Most stared at her because what she said was unbefitting of her character. Others were just downright offended. Such was the case of Big Mac, who spoke as if he was out of breath.

"Rainbow Dash?" Big Mac asked, unsure if this was still the same cyan blue Pegasus that his sister cared for deeply as a friend.

"I'm sorry, but do you buy any of her theories?!" Rainbow Dash cried aloud.

Applejack corked a brow. "What theories?" she asked.

This surprised Gilda. She turned her head to the wheel chaired bound purple pony with wide eyes of astonishment. "You didn't tell them?" she asked, confused.

Twilight swallowed a small bite of food from her plate, and motioned a hoof in the air, symbolizing that she needed a few seconds. "Just a moment," Twilight replied as she chewed. "I was getting to that."

Once she swallowed, she placed both her hooves together in deep thought. She looked like she was about to pray. She kept her eyes closed as she spoke. Her voice was soothing and calm; methodical and planned out. Every word she said had been said before, multiple times, to herself and by herself to ensure that they expressed everything she was trying to convey.

"As you do or do not know, I've spent these last 4 years of my life in a comic book shop. This isn't the first time I had my head lost in square boxes filled with stallions and mares wearing tights and speaking in bubbles. I'm infected with a disease known as ontogenesis imperfect. Don't fret Fluttershy, it's not contagious or harmful….well, at least not as harmful as it could be. There are four types of this disease, and I have the most mild; type 1. Basically, my bones are very brittle and more susceptible to breaking. As a filly, before I came to Ponyville and found a way to treat it myself for a short time being, I was constantly in and out of the hospital; in and out of hospital beds; in and out of comic books. As I kept myself preoccupied with these scandalous tales of mares and stallions dressed in tights fighting evil doers, I began to see a code. After my….incident, and after speaking with the princess, I divulged myself into a whole new field of study. I've been obsessed with trying to find the evidence, trying to find the proof, trying to show you all what I believe. As my research went deeper, I began to believe that maybe these comic books were like religious texts. Regardless of whether or not they hold any significance on the whole as a truth, they are relics from the past trying to relay a message. That message is simple. There are ponies, griffons, dragons or whatever, that have unique talents; and that they should use those talents to protect us. And I think Gilda, is one of those special creatures…..get it?"

The room turned itself into stone. The thick fog of stillness and significant silence fell amongst the guest like molasses; it's slow descent, the meaning of Twilight's words, turning thicker inside the gang's mind. The significance of what she said was trying to be processed. And when one at the table discovered what the words held in the balance of everything he or she knew about Twilight Sparkle, the dramatic shook kept him or her still.

The one who broke this chain of reactions was Applejack. When it hit her, she thought of it as a joke. This was an example of Twilight being Twilight. She always had a problem with social gatherings. She did have a terrible social awkwardness. It was funny under the given tense circumstances and thus, it made Applejack laugh.

That's when Twilight shot Applejackt the glare.

It's the type of glare that teachers give to their students. The glare could kill if used strongly enough. The wide eyes, the clenched jaw; everything about that glare symbolized anger and disapproval. And when Applejack realized that she was the recipient of the glare, it confused her. In fact, it confused her so much, that she stopped her laughter.

"Wait, you serious?" Applejack asked.

The glare continued.

That's when the sighing accord. It sounded like wind rushing through the room. Everypony at the table had now finally comprehended the entire ( or most of the entire) situation that Gilda was in. it seemed logical for Gilda to act the way she did. Was it morally erroneous? Absolutely. But it wasn't an illogical choice. And thus, the guest at the table had to find out more. Just how far, would Twilight try to stretch her belief?

"Twilight, darling, you really need to reconsider this theory of yours," Rarity asked politely.

"I know that what I say is highly unconventional, but I have a strong feeling that what I'm researching is the truth," the purple pony responded.

"Have you turned up any evidence in your favor?" Applejack asked with a corked brow.

"Not yet, but I'm working on it diligently," Twilight replied.

"Um…..mind if…..mind if I ….I have an opinion on this….if that's ok" A small voice mumbled off in the corner.

The gang turned towards Fluttershy.

"Of course Fluttershy," Applejack stated. "You're opinion is highly valued hear."

There was, of course, the small moment of silence as Fluttershy gathered up her courage to speak to Twilight. Then, after letting out a breath, the yellow pegasus stated under her breath, "if you insist," and began her objective outlook.

"Let's look at this matter from a completely objective and evidence based stand point," Fluttershy inquired from Twilight Sparkle. "What are comic books known as, fiction or non-fiction? Most would say fiction, but you believe that they hold a source of realism in them? There's the slight possibility, but what are you basing that slight possibility on?"

"1," Twilight began. "I'm basing it off Gilda's miraculous survival. 2, in many other sources of literature, there have been stories referencing ponies and or other creatures with amazing abilities."

"Let's begin with point 1," Fluttershy announced. "There is no question that what happened to Gilda was rare, but that doesn't prove right away that she's a superhero. One's miracle can be interpreted in many ways. Some would say that Gilda just got lucky. Luck, miracles, an act of faust, all these things are subjected to interpretation and all are within the eye of the beholder."

"I agree with Fluttershy," Rarity concluded. "I mean no offense by this darling, I really don't," Rarity said with well – mannered tones. "But other than you, who else thinks that just because she survived a train crash, that automatically makes her a superhero?"

"But let us not forget the fact that we also hold in high regard the idea that Gilda has never been injured once in her life either," Twilight replied.

During this moment, Gilda's mind jumped back to that day in the pool. Gilda realized that this moment had no become more of a gift and blessing, and less of a curse. The memory she contained on that day was now her secret weapon. Gilda realized that as soon as she tells every about that day, all theories would be shut – down. The question was when to say it. While Gilda wanted to exclaim this memory right at that moment, she decided to stay quiet; interested in where the conversation might go.

"Dually noted," Big Mac answered for Rarity. "But at the same time, there are grey areas that while we can't necessarily say that she didn't get injured, there's the slight possibility that she was."

"Yeah, like, what about the cart accident?" Rainbow Dash asked out of curiosity.

"I chalk that up to a form of post-traumatic stress syndrome," Twilight proclaimed. "If I were given some time for hypnotherapy, I might be able to pull something out of Gilda's subconscious."

"Implying that she wasn't unconscious once she struck the tree, like I was," Rainbow Dash announced.

Twilight sat quietly for a few moments; pondering what had just been said. "That's one way to look at it."

"All right," Fluttershy meekly interrupted; trying to finish her points. "Point 2. You said that you've discovered many stories detailing depictions of super heroic creatures from the past. Are these sources fictional or non – fictional?"

"Some are considered non –fictional," Twilight replied.

"But you see, that's the point," Fluttershy retorted (shyly of course). "You're taking an unclear source to clarify another unclear source. It's the blind leading the blind, sort of speak."

Once Fluttershy stated this, Twilight placed her head into both of her hooves. It looked like she was trying to pray again. Her eyes clenched shut and she sighed out disappointed. The sigh had a strange tone to it. Fluttershy, being the element of kindness, asked Twilight if she was ok.

"I'm alright," Twilight said, picking her head back up to look into her friends' eyes. Then, after a moment of silence, she spoke again. "Look. All the point you made are valid points. They are based in fact and not in hopeless bias like my work is. But…..I have an excuse for this hopeless bias." She pulled her wheelchair out from under the table, for a few seconds to show what she meant, and then pushed herself back in. "I need this hope. I need this idea to be real; that while I and many others will always get hurt or sick, there are those few who have it made. The world cannot be this bleak."

"It's a false hope Twilight," Gilda responded. "I don't want to hurt you; none of us do. But the fact of the matter is, is that you are placing your hope in someone who is also hopeless." It was no secret that Gilda was referring to herself. "If I had the strength to believe in it, I would try, but I don't. and frankly, I don't want to be a hero. I just want to be….accepted. Besides, who else could back you up on this."

Suddenly, the silverware shook again. From the far south end of the table, Pinkie Pie stood, glaring at Gilda. Her anger had risen itself to levels of dangerous proportions. If she were any angrier, fire would've taken the place of her cotton candy mane. Instead, her hoof shot straight up in the air, to show that she sided with her best friend.

"Pinkie, think about this-" was all Rarity could say before she was rudely interrupted by the always hyperbolic party animal.

"NO! DON'T THINK! FEEL!" Pinkie Pie responded. "PLACE YOUSELF'S INTO TWILIGHT SHOES AND YOU'LL SEE WHY SHE BELIEVES THIS! SHE IS ALSO ONE OF THE SMARTEST PONIES I KNOW! ASIDE FROM MY PINKIE SENSES, I'VE YET TO SEEN ONCE INCIDENT WHERE SHE WAS WRONG! IF SHE SAYS IT'S SO, THEN OOOOOOOOKAY!"

"But Pinkie," Applejack stated. "There's no way to prove that Gilda is a super hero."

And that's when it happened; the inciting incident. The spark that caused the fire to roar, came from the chair to Gilda's right side.

"There is," Applebloom spoke up.

The guests were shocked by this statement. It was already a bold enough statement to being with. Added with the fact that these were the first words spoke by Applebloom all night, it made the words all the more courageous.

Applebloom seemed to be scrambling for something in her pockets. (It was somewhat of a confusing subject to master, but once a pony learns mid – grade level biology, pockets become much easier to comprehend on a pony. Think of it as like a pouch on a kangaroo). She stayed in this position for a long time, before she slammed something down on the table. Gilda noticed the shimmer right away. Big Mac was the first to say "My Faust," in utter fear.

On the table, was Big Mac's hunting pistol.

The pistol worked as a sort of water – squirter. The butt of the gun extended all the way to ones shoulder once locked. Then, the user only had to force the gun back in order to pull the trigger.

Everyone was stunned. Bewildered by the situation, Gilda stated the obvious. "Applebloom, what the hell are you doing!"

Immediately, Applebloom got up and placed the butt of the gun next to her shoulder; keeping it steady, hoping not to shoot. The mane six and Big Mac were terrified; jumping back in fear that the gun would go off. Even Twilight rolled herself out of the line of fire. But in the hands of one unskilled with the use of guns, the line of fire was literally, impossible to calculate. And from the way Applebloom shook with nervousness, the line of fire was EVERYWHERE.

Tears caused her voice to crack and for her dialogue to blubber out of her mouth. "You don't believe Twilight! But I'll show you! I'll show all of you that you can't get hurt!"

"I never said anything about her being unsusceptible to dying!" Twilight commented, hoping that Applebloom wouldn't do anything to ruin the one chance she had to finding her true identity.

Looking with her eyes, keeping the gun focused, Applebloom responded. "If she can't get injured from a train accident, then one bullet won't do anything to her! Besides, she's MY hero and she can't die! I WON'T ALLOW IT!"

"Applebloom, think about what you're doing!" Gilda pleaded with a strong, stern voice.

Big Mac thought of something and realized that he had to address the audience inside Carousel Boutique of his thought. "Wait a minute; I'm pretty sure the gun is not loaded."

Still sitting, Gilda asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Because I always keep the bullets and the gun separated," Big Mac responded. "I keep the gun next to the fishing tackle and I ke-"

"– keep the bullets right inside your high – school MVP hoofball trophy," Applebloom finished the sentence.

The room turned cold.

"Applebloom, are there bullets in that gun?" Big Mac sated breathlessly.

"She won't get hurt!" Applebloom responded. "Twilight said so!"

"Twilight's wrong!" Gilda responded. "She had one too many breaks in her lifetime and somewhere along the line her mind broke with her body."

Twilight's attention was caught in the discussion. Not because her name was addressed, but because of how her name was addressed. She was brought up as though she wasn't even in the room. Not to mention that what Gilda said was not all that flattering. Twilight, also trying to convey peace, tried to lighten the moment with humor.

"Hey, I take offense to that," the purple pony said.

That's when the first significant moment took place inside the boutique. In the midst of all this chaos, Twilight made a lame attempt at humor. She knew there would be a reaction from this. The odds were also in the favor of that reaction being negative. But what struck her completely off guard was the fact that this negative reaction came from the one pony whom just a second ago, was on – board with her theory.

"BUCK YOU!" Pinkie Pie shouted in fear.

That's when it clicked. Twilight's heart dropped with a collective 'thud.' Everything had gone terribly wrong. Her plan had backfired. But it wasn't all over yet…..that was, until significant moment #2.

"I'll show you!" Applebloom cried once more. "IT HAS TO BE REAL! YOU CAN'T GET HURT!"

"BUT I'VE ALREADY HAVE!" Gilda exclaimed. "AND I KNOW IT FOR A FACT!"

Everyone in the room got caught up in the attention. Gilda's words were heavy with meaning. Applejack, from her corner of the room, corked a brow and noted, "How long have you known this?"

"I just figured it out today," Gilda replied to Applejack. Then she stared straight into the soul of Applebloom, hoping that her words would reach her and cause her to think.

"When I was little, two colts grabbed me and dunked me underwater at this public pool. I took a lung full of water and I almost drowned. I was dead for 3 minutes but the lifeguard brought me back to life. She didn't record the incident because I was afraid that if my parents found out I would've been ridiculed, or much worst, beaten because I didn't fight back. It really did happen to me, I just didn't remember it because I was so young, that's all!"

Gilda's explanation caused Twilight's world to shatter. For this moment, and for possibly he rest of her life, Twilight had been defeated. For most of the guest inside Rarity's place, the apex of this climatic moment wouldn't come until that pivotal moment where either Gilda stopped the gun from going off, or if the gun went off before Gilda could stop it. As for Twilight, her dreams, her reality, was now nothing; black and bleak nothingness that stretched on forever, and forever, and forever.

The room had gone silent once again. Then came the sound of a single sob. Then, Applebloom replied…..

"…..you're lying!"

"I'm not lying!" Gilda shouted. "And even if I was you still got to think about what if Twilight's wrong! What if this is all bullshit! I'll be dead and it will be your fault! Do you want to live with that the rest of your life!"

Unbeknownst to everyone inside, Applebloom had begun to speak to herself, hoping to stall her nerves. Once Gilda stopped her retort, everyone heard what Applebloom was mumbling to herself. It was clearer than any blue sky, yet darker than any null well.

"I'll just shoot her once," Applebloom cried in a whisper. "Just to prove a point. She can't die."

Gilda yelled once more. "Applebloom, listen to what we've all just sa-"

CLICK!

The gun was now cocked and ready to fire. Heart rates had increased tenfold. Everyone was stilled in silence and in fear. It was traumatic and breath-taking to watch. Much like the train wreck itself, the fallout from this moment on would be more catastrophic than whatever explosion caused it. Using the word tension would be a disservice to the tension that was felt within the room at that moment. This was beyond tension. This was pure, unadulterated, fear.

"Don't be scared," Applebloom cried in an almost unintelligible whisper.

And in the fog of the fear, came the guiding light.

"Ok…..shoot me." Gilda commanded slowly and calmly.

Silence.

"What?" Applebloom cried.

"Shoot me," Gilda proclaimed. "But if you pull that trigger, I'm going to leave." Gilda's voice became more vindictive as she continued speaking. The sadness in her voice became more noticeable, and loud.

"Go ahead! Shoot me! You're right! What twilight said was right too! The bullet will just bounce off my body and I'll be fine. But then I'm leaving! You hear me Applebloom! IF YOU SHOOT ME, I WILL BE PERFECTLY FINE! BUT THEN I'LL HEAD BACK TO THE FARM, I'LL PACK MY BAGS, HEAD BACK TO FILIDELPHIA, AND NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN! I WILL LEAVE!"

The tears were now violently streaming down Applebloom's face. The gun shook as her acing sobs overwhelmed her body. Her eyes felt like they were going to bleed. Her throat choked out mucus and more sadness. And then, her throat choked out a single question.

"…why?" she cried.

"BECAUSE YOU WERE LIKE A SISTER TO ME APPLEBLOOM!" Gilda began sobbing as well. "YOU WERE THE ONE THING THAT KEPT ME FROM GOING SUICIDAL THOSE FIRST FEW DAYS AFTER THE TRAIN CRASH WHILE I LIVED ON THE BARN AND I THOUGHT WE WOULD CONTINUE BEING LIKE THAT! BUT IF YOU SHOOT ME, THE REALTIONSHIP WILL BE OVER! AND I WILL NOT SHED A SINGLE TEAR AT THAT THOUGHT! BECAUSE IF YOU SHOOT ME, I CANNOT FORGIVE YOU!"

Then, in the most intense drama, Big Mac added another crucible to the crisis. "Applebloom, if you shoot her, I can't forgive you either."

Applebloom's tears were now the only identifiable trait the yellow pony had left. The odds were stacked against her. If she did shoot her, and Twilight was right, then Gilda was a superhero. But she would no longer be her superhero. And what if Twilight was wrong? What if tonight was the night she killed the one thing besides family she had grown close to? Big Mac truly would never forgive her. No Apple family member killed.

She cried once more. And then –

"APPLEBLOOM!" The shout echoed longer than the other's preceding it. By far, this was the angriest Gilda had ever been, ever. "YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE IN BIG TROUBLE! AS YOUR FRIEND, AS YOUR SURROGATE BIG SISTER, I'M TELLING YOU TO BUT THAT BUCKING GUN DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

And then, it began.

"1…"

"2…"

...

…

…

…

"THR-"

* * *

With a loud slam, Applebloom placed the gun back on the table and left its side. Afterwards, she immediately fell and began to sob. Gilda reached over and unloaded the gun. As each bullet hit the ground, her heart sank in ordnance with it. Eventually, when the gun was emptied, her heat was emptied; only to be refilled to the brim with sadness, to which Gilda cried out as she fell to the floor.

It was a sad day for everyone filled in carousel boutique. But it was more sad for some than others. Case in point; Twilight Sparkle. Not only was her theory destroyed, but so was her friendship. Because the last words before Twilight left were uttered by non – other than Rarity herself; the creator of the dinner. The element of generosity only had one thing to say.

"Stay out of our lives, Twilight Sparkle."


	11. Waterit's your kryptonite

Time heals all wounds. This is fact. Even after a major life-changing event, with the simple element of time added on, the mind can perform wondrous mental comebacks. The saddest day can be seen from a different light and even the darkest night could be merely comprehended as a stepping stone. Besides, tragedy plus time equals comedy, and if the saying is true, that 'laughter is the best medicine,' then at this point in her life, Gilda should've been a living, breathing, God.

It had been one full month since what the small group of ponies and Gilda referred to as the 'Twilight,' incident occurred. It took a while for every pony and Gilda to get back on track with their normal lives after that night. The next morning was practically unbearable for the Apple Family. Big Mac and Applejack debated whether or not they needed to hire a professional shrink to come in and evaluate Apple Bloom. But, after one full week, Apple Bloom finally started to regain her old composure. They knew that she was on the path towards healing when Gilda caught Apple Bloom one day humming the CMC theme song while working on the farm.

So why did it take one full month for everypony to get back on track?

Pinkie Pie was left bitter and saddened by the whole experience. She realized that it was her who called out 'BUCK YOU,' as loud as she possibly could that night, and it left her an emotional wreck. Later on in life, she was quoted to saying that for two weeks, she ultimately despised herself. The pink pony tried going back to work one week after the incident, but the Cakes knew that there was more healing to be done when they found out that Pinkie Pie would cry randomly throughout the day for no apparent reason. They sent her upstairs to get some much needed rest, and for at least another week, she would practically spend the entire day in bed. Her hair had lost its 'poofy', 'cotton-candy' like composure and had gone straight and flat. She didn't want to eat with the Cakes family table and thus resorted to having her meals passed under the door way for the entire week. Thank Celestia though, one day she did ended up leaving her room, and one month after the 'Twilight,' incident, she was the jumpy pony that everypony knew and loved. And it took her a month because 'Time heals all wounds.'

Then there was Rarity. Life at the carousel boutique had become such a mess after the incident. She had to put off work for an entire week and when she got back to work, she was so over-stressed that she would end up either crying herself to sleep or passing out. But her sister became a big factor in her healing process. Sweetie Bell's innocence, happiness, and optimistic hope allowed Rarity to sink into another mare's shoes for a moment, and realize that Sweetie looked towards her for guidance. Now it was time to return the favor. Rarity had to heal, for her own sake as well as Sweetie Bell's and so, after 2 weeks, Rarity had returned to her normal self.

Fluttershy had always been the quiet, isolated one when it came to healing. It took the concern of many friends and woodland critters for Fluttershy to leave the cottage for a few days. But even so, she remained drastically quiet; to the point that it was even out of character. She didn't even talk to Angel for three days. One pony changed that; technically, one Draconequus changed all that. Discord had become a big friend towards Fluttershy the weeks after the incident. He even stayed over one night, after begging and pleading with Celestia to let him do so, just to see if she was ok. And when he was around, she was ok. Discord made her happy and ponies were content with that. Then….things got weird. One night became two nights. Two nights transformed into a three day weekend at Fluttershy's cottage. Eventually, Celestia, along with everypony else became suspicious about what exactly was happening at the cottage. Then, when Fluttershy was fully healed, and when she felt ready, she exclaimed it to the world at the top of her lungs. Her and Discord, were an item. Boyfriend and Girlfriend, together hand in hand, both had lead the other out of darkness at a strange and perilous moment in their life, and they both had each other to thank. So, because of time, and Discord's love, Fluttershy was healed within the month.

Rainbow Dash found solace in the sky. Three days after the 'Twilight,' Incident, Rainbow Dash had found herself sitting on one of the clouds, and staring into the sky. She saw something. She saw a line, a line that needed to be crossed and only for the sake of pure enjoyment. With rapture, she took off in a heartbeat. She extended her wings and flew at breathtaking speeds just straight on. She gained more and more speed until finally; she became the first pony ever to perform a sonic rainboom, head on! The day fully set her mind back into place, so Rainbow Dash became the second quickest pony to heal.

The first pony to heal was Applejack. She needed to heal quickly if she wanted to keep her head on straight. Being a big sister, and one of the proprietors at Sweet Apple Acres, she literally had no time on her hands to sit and mope. This sense of a 'ticking clock' actually worked in Applejack's favor. She had too much work to focus on, and thus her focus refrained itself from drifiting towards the events of that night. The next day, she was fully back to normal, bucking apples and keeping the peace between Gilda and Big Mac.

This is where one finds themselves discovering which two needed the most time to heal. Gilda and Big Mac experienced two traumatic things during the 'Twilight' incident, and one of them involved the other. Gilda, after having some time that night to think about it, realized that she was pissed at Mackie! He was her colt friend! He should've done something! He should have defended her when the mane 6 were attacking, but he did nothing. In fact, if memory serves correct, he just let it happened, and did so gladly because "What Gilda did was wrong, and she knows it." That night, when they got home, and Big Mac tried to apologize to her, he made the mistake of placing his hoof on her shoulder, and that's when she said the three words, that caused the two to separate for the entire month.

"Don't Touch Me!"

And so, for two weeks, the once 'inseparable' couple tied everything in their power to stay away from each other. They ate dinner at different times. They worked on different section of the Farm during the day. Gilda even decided to use the outhouse just to make sure she and Big Mac never crossed paths in the morning when using the restroom. After two weeks though, Applejack had enough. She devised a devious enough plan and put it into action, and with Rarity's help, it became a golden plan.

The premise was simple; set Big Mac up on a blind date with Gilda. The payoff, if handled well, would be amazing. The execution, while difficult, was preformed with ease; and with Rarity's help, watching the execution was comparable to watching a romantic French film.

Applejack had created two letters, each from Rarity and sent one to Gilda and one to Big Mac. The Letters asked if he or she would mind having dinner one night, and Applejack made sure to give both of them (separately) the day off to attend this dinner. Gilda was the first one to arrive at the boutique. She was greeted with an elaborate table set up. There was candles, lavender, and apparently a note telling her to 'make herself comfortable.' So Gilda took a chair and simply waited.

About a half an hour later, Big Mac arrived. Save for the candles, the entire boutique was dark, so when he entered the dining room, his face became illuminated by the candle light in a strange fashion. Gilda believed she was watching some romance film. It was entirely cheesy, and thus, she automatically knew that someone had set this up. Judging by Big Mac's equally surprised look, she knew it wasn't him. So, that only left two ponies.

"Applejack and Rarity set us up didn't they?" she asked, fully knowing the answer.

"eeyup."

"Figures," Gilda replied as she downcast her eyes to her talons. After picking an imaginary hangnail, she pushed her chair out and began to leave. "Let's just leave…" she stated as she started to pass him.

And that's when Big Mac performed a gutsy move by hooking his hoof around her talon, stopping her from passing him.

"Or…..we could have dinner,"

She stared back at him, an expression of disgust painting itself across her face.

"…just to humor them," Big Mac explained.

"Sorry Mackie, it's obvious that the only reason you'd want to have dinner with me is for your own benefit." Gilda said.

"You're right," Big Mac said. "I've been wanting to apologize for so long."

"Even if you do, I won't forgive you," Gilda stated. "I'll never love you again."

"And that's the point," Big Mac replied.

This left Gilda silent. Confused by this prospect, her composure transformed itself from anger to curiosity. If he knew that she would never love him again, the why apologize? Why have dinner with someone who hates you?

"Gilda…" The stallion of simple words breathed. "I love you. And I always will…..and I know you may never love me again….but that's ok. I'll still love you. If I need to, I'll move on. But there will always be a special place in my heart for you. The point being that if you want to have this dinner or not, it doesn't matter. In the end, it's what you want that leaves me satisfied, even if it means having my heart broken. Would I rather have you back? Absolutely. I would kill both princesses in a heartbeat just to have you back. But that doesn't change the fact that I would kill with even more fervor at the prospect of just making you happy. I would gladly stop dating you….hell…I'd move away as long as it makes you happy. I just needed to apologize because…you deserve an apology…you don't have to make me happy, but I just want to make sure that you're happy, and whatever decision you choose, I'll gladly accept it, as long as it's what you truly want…..because in the end, although I will always reserve a place in my heart for you, it's your well being and contentment, that I ache to achieve. And if it means we're no more….then so be it. Just know that…..I'm sorry…and I'll never hurt you again"

Gilda was speechless. She never heard Mackie talk that much before. He was a quiet stallion of simple words. Where did all that come from? Was there like a special spot in his brain mainly used to craft such poetic words of passion and love? Or was this simply something off the fly, something he had to say? If either was the case, it had done its job. It made Gilda think about what she truly wanted. She was mad! She was defiantly mad at him….question was, how long could she stay mad at him…..

The answer revealed itself when she looked into his emerald green eyes.

"Aw hell," Gilda groaned. "Don't be like that. Fine, I'll have dinner with you."

And so, dinner was spectacular. The couple actually found themselves laughing at each other's jokes and stories, even ones they've already retold. And this spectacular occasion, ended spectacularly, with a spectacular kiss. That kiss, turned into multiple kisses, until about an hour after the dinner, the couple found themselves snogging the hell out of each other for 30 minutes. It was inevitable. Their love had been rekindled. It was a glorious day.

Naturally, when the next weekend rolled around, and the opportunity for another date such as that one came up, both of them jumped on the opportunity. Who wouldn't want to relive and experience like that?

But there was one problem. Was Applebloom ok to leave alone?

The two found themselves looking into Applebloom's room behind the cracked open door, watching her play with action figures. They analyzed her, and watched for a moment as they determined whether or not it was ok to leave. They noticed that she was healing. They knew that she had become increasingly happy over the past couple of days. But was she at the point where they could leave her alone and not have something terrible happen.

Unbeknownst to them, Applebloom knew that they were behind her, and she could pick up every word of their conversation.

"I don't know Mackie,"

"Niether do I….I mean, we could do this again some other time,"

"Don't we have a reservation though?"

"Eeyup."

"But I don't want to leave her alone etiher."

"Eeyup."

"….maybe we should just reschedule."

That line was the straw that broke the camel's back. Applebloom felt compelled to speak. It was her notion to make sure that she didn't stand in the way of her big brother's and his girlfriend's night out. She wouldn't be the one to ruin anyone's happiness.

"I'm fine," she told them. She noticed in her peripheral vision that the two jumped a little bit at the prospect of being discovered. "It's ok," she continued. "I just…got mixed up. Go have your night out, forget about me."

There was silence for a little bit, and then Big Mac ensured his duty as the big brother to inform Applebloom of what all there was needed to be informed of.

"Gilda and I will be back around 11:00. Applejack should be done working around 9:00. If anything bad should happy, go outside and yell for her…..you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine," Applebloom replied. "I just want you two to have fun."

The couple looked at each other, and silently agreed that it was apparently safe enough to leave Applebloom alone for a few hours.

"Ok. Bye little sis," Big Mac called. And with that, he shut the door.

As the couple exited the home, Gilda realized something. Big Mac and she had finally healed from the disastrous incident 1 month ago. From what she heard, everypony else had come to terms with what had happened and had finally moved on. But what about Twilight Sparkle? Was she ok?

Gilda will admit that there are times when she is afraid of herself. She has an unusually uncaring nature that can pop up at the worst of times. It had become a sort of habit she gained with three years under her belt as a bully. The ability to be empathetic ruins a bully, and thus, she found a way to suppress it. Now that she wanted to be a good griffon, she found that she had to suppress that dark side of her; the side that told her it was ok to not care, and sometimes, that side would slip out. Case in point; when the thought of Twilight entered her head, her brain said only two words back.

'Who cares?'

* * *

The bright florescent lights of the shop didn't release the mare from her darkness. She found herself in the farthest corner of the room, mesmerized by her own train of thought. Funny thing was, there actually wasn't a coherent thought she was thinking of. Every thought was just an emotion, and a negative one at that. Self – loathing, self – anger, hatred, sadness, spite, Twilight Sparkle experienced all these in the back of the comic shop, as she stared off into the abyss, lost in her own mind.

She had failed. The memory of what happened a month ago replayed over and over again. She couldn't believe that she got shot down so easily. And what made it worst was the fact that there was nothing she could do to disprove her friends. It was over.

She had gone to the shop to simply browse the newest comics. She had been stuck in her own art gallery for far too long, and had decided that she needed fresh air. The comic shop located 2 blocks left from Sugarcube Corner usually contained good titles, so going out at night to avoid Pinkie Pie, Twilight left around 9:00pm. As she looked through the stands, she realized that she was making no mental progress. All the flashy titles and new superhero's only reminded her of her theory; her disproven theory, and so, going the back of the room, she decided just to sit and think for a minute. Unfortunately for her, getting lost in her train of negative thoughts caused that minute to become an hour.

She was brought back to reality around closing time, when a young teenage colt, informed her "Hey mam, its closing time. You gotta choose."

Twilight chose to remain silent. She wanted to know how this colt would react when he finally saw her. He was stuck in the far corner of the room, and so obviously, he couldn't see her, or know that she was crippled. It pleased her in a sort of sadistic way to know that in a couple of seconds, if she remained quiet, the boy would be in for the biggest shock of his life.

A couple of seconds of silence rolled by, before she heard the colt proclaim "You better not be getting off to the rule 34 comics, I swear to Celestia."

Twilight kept her composure stone cold. She kept her emotions at bay, and threw away the notion of laughing. She knew that if she kept quiet, she could stay in her thoughts a bit longer, and plus, she could keep the boy confused and thus keeping her entertained.

The colt emerged from the counter and began to walk down the aisle. When he finally noticed that she was in a wheel chair he stopped. Twilight, although looking as though she contained a blank expression on her face, could see that the clerk was stunned. For a few seconds of silence, she saw the colt's brain perform gymnastics, trying to wrap his head around the situation. After the silence, the colt had this to say.

"Oh jeez….hey I'm sorry I didn't know…just choose something ok?"

Twilight kept her cold composure up. She had found that she was getting angry. The colt seemed sorry, but not sorry enough. She wanted to see what he would do with her. She was hoping he'd try to wheel her out the store. She had something planned for him if he so tried that.

More silence passed by between the two as the colt looked the apparently emotionless mare in the face. Hoping that she could understand him, he began to relate his situation.

"Ok, look mam, I'm just going to wheel you out. All right? You can think about things on the sidewalk. I got to get a sandwich in me, know what I'm saying?"

'Perfect,' Twilight thought as she refrained from smiling.

The colt cautiously went around and then finally behind Twilight Sparkle. He gripped the wheelchair by its handles and began to push. They slowly trekked along the aisle and everything was going smoothly. It was a weird situation, but the colt knew that it was just that, a situation.

But then suddenly – BAM! The colt jumped back when he realized that somehow they had swerved into a stand of comics, knocking a few over. The colt looked down and noticed that the purple pony's hand had griped the edge of her left wheel. It seemed odd to the colt. Was that on purpose? More than likely this mare didn't know what was happening so it probably was an accident. Shrugging it off, the colt continued down the path towards outside the store.

Everything was going fine when suddenly – BAM! Ok, that time, that wasn't an accident. This mare obviously was pissed that she was being told to leave the store, and decided that if she had to leave, she would take the store down with her as well. This time when the two crashed, she had knocked over a few cardboard cut – outs of some famous superheros.

"Ok, wheel chair or no wheel chair, if you do that again, I'm calling some street guards over to arrest you," the male employee informed Twilight.

Twilight remained as cold as ever.

As the employee began to wheel her out a third time, Twilight braced herself. She was going to make sure that this time when they swerved, she would try to cause the most damage. She was eyeing a stack of newly re-pressed and sealed classic comics, and decided that it would make the perfect target. When they had come within range, Twilight not only grip her wheel, but slid it backwards as well. The result; all of the comics and the metal rack fell over, causing a huge mess.

"THAT'S IT!" the colt announced. "You'll be spending your time deciding on which comic you want in jail miss!" and with that, he began to trot out of the store.

When suddenly, something caught Twilight's eye. One of comics had ended up on her lap, and when she flipped it over, she automatically recognized the issue. It was the classic #39th issue of DC's "Supermare," story – line which involved Supermare's biggest rival, Lex Hoofer, exploits Supermare's biggest weakness; kryptonite.

Weakness…..weakness….water…

And then it clicked.

In a flash, Twilight smiled. She laughed and screamed "SUCCESS!" The male employee, shocked that the purple mare could speak, turned his head and saw her waving the comic in the air.

"How much is this issue?" Twilight asked.

* * *

"Name a movie that you hate but everyone else seems to love."

"Erasermare"

"Why's that?"

"Because David Lynch-bird is such an odd director. He can't tell a simple story without going surreal and Earsermare is the weirdest of the weird. Seriously. What does a mare living in a giant heater have to do with a baby that looks like a dinosaur and do you see how weird this conversation just got?"

"Isn't that like, David's style though?"

"I like 'Blue Velvet,' much better though."

Gilda and Big Mac were talking back and forth, back and forth, and both were having a blast as they did so inside the restaurant they went to. It sure was a fancy place, not as fancy as the place they went to on their first date, but still fancy. What the restaurant lacked in luxury, it made up with food. The tuna pita that Gilda engulfed was simply mind – blowing. Big Mac's Mediterranean style dish was to die for. And the wine? Forget it. Gilda was already getting tipsy and so was Big Mac. The two both had equal blushes on their faces, showing how the alcohol was starting to kick in. They were already halfway through their second glass.

After they had finished eating, the two participated in a game of twenty questions. It was cheesy, but it still was fun, and the fact that they were somewhat drunk made it even more fun. Currently they were laughing just a bit at the silence that just passed by them, when Big Mac realized something.

"It's your turn," he informed his girl. "And this is the last question, so make it interesting."

Gilda mischievously smiled as she reached over and finished her glass of wine. So many thoughts went through her head. She didn't know what to ask him. And she knew that she had to leave the game of 20 questions off with a bang. But what exactly to ask?

But then, something strange happened. Her happy and comedic attitude replaced itself with a sense of wonder and curiosity. She decided to ask a serious question. Couple's sometimes ask each other serious questions, right?

"I'm going to change speeds here and ask you a serious question," Gilda informed her man.

The Red stallion cocked a brow, and as he brought his drink up to his lips, he wondered where exactly this game was going.

"We've had a…..pretty dark month here," Gilda said, "and…..for me….it wasn't the darkest moment of my life….but it was pretty close…how about you? ….has there ever been anything darker in your life happen to you?"

Big Mac paused for a second. He eyed his girl not suspiciously, but curiously. He looked somewhat shy; like as though he wasn't sure that he could go through with telling her. But then, he sighed deeply and contently, and Gilda notice that when he spoke, his eyes were starting to edge themselves with tears.

"I'm going to tell you two stories," Big Mac said. "They're both increasingly sad stories, but I need to know if you could handle them. Ok?"

Gilda nodded her head 'yes.'

As big Mac leaned back, he told his two tales.

"This first story, involves my parents. When my mom had Applebloom, she started hemorrhaging and the doctor's could only stop the bleeding for short periods of time. Two days after giving birth, my mom died in a hospital bed, surrounded by strangers, with a desperate family waiting behind a door, unsure of what just happened…..when my father died, it really shocked my sister; mainly because we never thought he would die the way he did. After we lost mom, dad lost that spark in his life that kept him going…late one night, while working on a fence post, my dad lost his balance and a piece of plywood went through his rib cage. The Autopsy revealed that the plywood didn't rupture any blood vessels or vital organs, so he should've survived…..but I think he just…gave up. Like he had been looking forward to dying for a long time…..and so he died, there in the field, and was discovered the next day by Applejack."

Gilda had gone silent. The painful details of this sad story had caused her to go somewhat numb. She was shocked, to say the least. It was just a graphic image to picture, and it caused Gilda to be surprised. Big Mac acknowledge this with a head shake, and continued with his next story.

"But that's not as bad as this next story….now, as weird as it sounds, when I was in high – school, I didn't have many mare-friends. There were three reasons for the lack of relationships. 1, I was intimidating. I was exactly this same size as a freshman. I always had a bit more bulk in muscle than most stallions. But with the advantages that come with the muscles in your adult hood, there are many disadvantages of having muscle's when you're a kid. Many mares were afraid I would crush them, and, considering how fierce of a hoofball player I was, I could see why. 2. They were intimidated by my sister. She was always looking out for me, making sure I wasn't dating some mare who was trying to pass the latest disease. So she got in a couple of girl's faces one day and…for two months, not one single mare talked to me. 3. I was shy. I was a very quiet and strange stallion. I wasn't that smart, and I wasn't very talkative, but I had amazing daydreams. I could imagine whole scenarios involving all sorts of things; from Viking warriors to robots, I could write any story and put it to paper. And at first, some girls liked the idea of having a creative boyfriend, but….after a while…..they found me boring and somewhat sad. Because of this, I rarely had the courage to talk to many mares….."

Big Mac looked down. He stared for a long time, lost in his own world once again.

"But then she came…her name was Beatrix. She was this dark blue mare with yellow eyes whom no pony knew much about…she told me that I was handsome….and I believed her….but…she had issues…she wasn't sane in the head. She would get taken out of school sometimes for weeks and would end up in the psych ward for evaluation. She would get into graphic fights and sometimes the loser would end up in the hospital for months….but I thought I loved her….and so I always stood by her side no matter what…..then one day, she heard this rumor about me being with some Pegasus. When she didn't believe me…she grabbed this hoofball bat and nearly beat my brains out of my skull and also broke my collar bone….when I came to, she had killed herself, thinking she killed me…I got up and tried hitchhiking to the nearest hospital….I passed out from the pain on the road. Some pony picked me up and took me to the hospital….and that was that…..you know, I would always have this reoccurring nightmare when I was with her. I would always wake up from a bad dream in my nightmare, and reach over and she would be right there. But then I would have another bad dream, within my bad dream, and when I woke up…..she wasn't there…..I'm having a similar nightmare involving you, but there's a catch…..when I wake up in my dream…..you're always there, telling me that it will be ok….I think the first time that I had that dream…..I realized I loved you."

Somehow, in the midst of that dark story, a beam of light shined through, and Gilda's heart fluttered with the idea of being with this stallion, for the rest of her life.

* * *

When the couple came home, they saw a very unusual sight. Applejack stood in the kitchen, her expression could've killed. It was apparent that she was very angry. But the couple also saw that she wasn't mad at them, but at a piece of paper lying on the table.

"What is it?" Big Mac asked.

"A letter," Applejack replied with a growl.

"From who?" Gilda asked.

"Who do you think?"

Gilda unfolded the letter, and this is what it read.

* * *

Dear Gilda,

It was so obvious.

It was this one issue that brought I back for me – DC comics 39. It was this one story where Supermare had to fight Lex Hoofer but kept getting destroyed because Lex had found a way to transform kryptonite into his armor.

And then it hit me.

Every superhero has a weakness, just like you Gilda.

Your bones don't break. Mine do. That's very clear.

Your cells react to bacteria and viruses differently than mine. You don't get sick. I do. That's also, very, very clear.

But for some reason, you and I react the exact same way to water. If we swallow it too fast, we choke. We get some in our lungs, we drown. However unreal it may seem, we are connected, you and I. We're on the same curve, but just on opposite ends.

The point of all this is that we now know something we didn't.

The only unsure variable is that cart crash. But I have a solution. I have discovered a hypnotherapist whom has an office in Manehatten. I've already scheduled an appointment for us and he seems highly interested in our case. If you don't want to come, I understand. But let's make the trip interesting shall we?

If you take this hypnotherapy, and prove me wrong, I will never bother you ever again. I will pack up 'Limited Edition,' and move it elsewhere. You will never see my face again.

Let's settle this once and for all.

Water; it's like your kryptonite.

Forever hopeful,

Twilight Sparkle.


	12. hypnotize

As the train politely rocked back and forth on the tracks, Gilda was given an immediate and somewhat expected sense of déjà vu. After all, she was coming full circle. Her great adventure began 4 months ago on a train, and by the celestial gods as her witness, it would end on a train. All she had to do was go into Dr. so and so's hypnosis room or whatever, and when it was all said and done, she could look Twilight in the eye and say "You're wrong." The satisfactory feeling that she was getting in the pit of her stomach only increased her devotion to the cause. The sooner this junk was over, the better.

Beside her was Fluttershy. The element of kindness really had no bounds. Knowing that not only would she have to console Gilda in her anger, but also comfort Twilight in her grief, made the pony almost insane. But, there was hope. Fluttershy, like Gilda, was just happy to finally have resolution over this whole ordeal. And, as an added bonus, she would finally get to see her friend and apologize for the events which led up to this moment. She had debated over whether or not this was the right thing to do (on one hand Twilight had gone nuts but on the other hand the mane 6 were all very rude), but she felt certain after Discord gave her one important piece of advice. "Follow your heart darling. It's never steered you wrong yet."

And so, that's what Fluttershy was following at the moment. Gilda however was following a path. This path was built out of the need for redemption and the eagerness for serenity. That path, however, was about to take a wild left turn. No pony would ever forget this day. And no pony, besides Twilight, Fluttershy, and Gilda, would hear about it.

About half an hour later, Gilda and Fluttershy found themselves outside the waiting room of the doctor's office. The place was nice. It had a simple warm yet very stale atmosphere mostly attributed to other waiting rooms. There were anonymous paintings on the wall that Gilda knew if she were an art major, she could've easily identified the artist. Besides her and her yellow friend, there were only 3 ponies in the waiting room, all trying to find ways to occupy their time. One read a magazine. One listened to his IHoof. The other Gilda could not recall. These ponies were mostly faces; never to be remembered for personality, only to be recalled by quantity.

After what felt like an eternity, the door to the office finally opened. A white mare with a puffy yellow mane came out and read off her clipboard, "Gilda Griffon?"

Gilda got up and Fluttershy quickly followed behind her. They were lead down a series of nameless numbered rooms and insignificant hallways before finally coming upon the door they were suppose to enter. For a brief second, Gilda prepared herself for what she was about to see. The door opened, and Gilda's mind took in the entire scene as she scoped the room from end to end.

The room was on one of the wings of the hospital, so if had the advantage of being a bit larger in size than most rooms. The entrance door was located on the far right side. Behind the door was a coat rack and across the coat rack was a potted plant. There was mostly bare space and carpet before Gilda got to the desk at the end of the left side of the hallway. Behind the throne was a glass window overlooking the Manehatten cityscape. It was beautiful. To the left of the desk was a large couch, obviously for Gilda, and directly in front of the desk, were two office chairs.

The room was currently occupied by two occupants. One was the Dr (who was a white mare with a dark red mane) and the other swiveled around in her wheel-chair, in a very supervillain-esque fashion, to flash a smile towards Gilda.

"Hello there Gilda," Twilight remarked. Then she looked over Gilda's shoulder. "Hello Fluttershy." Then she addressed the both of them. "The train ride was a long one, I assume."

Gilda huffed under her breath. She hated small talk. But, considering how she was next to the element of freaking kindness, Gilda expected that she had to return the favor.

"It was supposed to be a 2 hour train ride. We got here 40 minutes earlier than expected."

Twilight's eyes flashed up in amazement. "Oh, well I guess time flies when one's having fun."

Gilda gritted her beak. Her talons clenched themselves in rage. This certainly wasn't fun.

Twilight wheeled herself over to Fluttershy, who carried a basket in her teeth. Fluttershy accepted the hug that Twilight gave and when the purple unicorn asked what Fluttershy brought with her, the yellow Pegasus responded very politely as one would do when equipped with the element of kindness.

"Oh, it's a little forgiveness basket I made for you. It's filled with all sorts of treats that I hope you enjoy. I'm so sorry about what happened a month ago. We should've treated you better. No friend should've acted the way we did," Fluttershy explained.

"Relax," Twilight commented. "Besides, it's your well-used advice that finally made me get off my rump and set this appointment."

The lavender pony turned her head towards the white/red pony and stated, "Faust. This is the girl I wrote to you about."

After finally finishing what she had to sign for whatever cause, the white pony got up and made her way over to Gilda. While she trotted, she stated, "Actually, your letter didn't reach me as of yet. It was given to my secretary whom I approved the appointment with. In all honesty, I needed the extra-cash." She held her hoof out, waiting for it to be bumped.

"Good evening, I'm Dr. Faust," the white pony proclaimed.

Gilda bumped Faust's hoof. "I'm Gilda."

"Pleasure," Faust nodded. Then, she exclaimed to all occupants, "Please sit. Make yourselves comfortable."

As they sat down, Faust prepared herself coffee. Halfway through, she asked if anyone wanted some as well. The response was "no." Finally, after preparing her cup of coffee, she sat down in an office chair, rolled herself in the middle of the room to get a good look at all three inhabitants, and asked, "So, what exactly seems to be the trouble?"

Twilight was about to explain, "Well you see doc…." But Gilda raised her talon in defiance.

"I believe the one who gets hypnotized should have the most say into what exactly is going on, don't you?" Gilda said in a simple manner, with a slight hint of snarky intent.

Twilight lowered herself and Gilda began to speak.

"When I was about to graduate from the flight academy, me and a friend of mine got caught in a bad cart wreck. Apparently, I came to and brought her to a hospital, but I don't remember doing so. On top of that, I told the doctors that I broke a wing but I don't remember doing that either. All I remember was the crash, and the next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital bed. Twilight here suggests that I never broke my wing, and that I lied to the doctors."

Twilight, filled with anxiety, immediately interrupted the conversation to ask, "Is that possible? I mean, is there such a way to go into autopilot and tell someone something that isn't true?"

"Well it depends," Dr. Faust commented. "Gilda, would you have any underlying motive on why you would want to tell the doctors you broke a bone?"

"I can't see why not. That broken wing got me kicked out of stormball, and up to that point, sports were my life," Gilda said. "Obviously, I have trouble remembering this crash so that's why Twilight came to you."

Dr. Faust shot the purple pony a smile and exclaimed, "Well, you came to the right place." She rolled her chair over to her desk and grabbed some supplies. As she did this, she began to go into a typical doctor monologue, explaining the procedure and the reason for it.

"This autopilot state that Twilight was referring to is actually more common than you think. You see, typically after a very stressful event, our mind begins to slowly pick it apart piece by piece. Through dreams and simple subconscious therapy, in time, we are able to handle or come to terms with the situation. Sometimes, however, we witness something so catastrophic that it takes a while for our brain to readjust. When this happens, we black out, but our body is still physically working. The lights are on but nobody's home, so to speak. And when this happens, we typically don't remember what happened and or what we did when we black out. Thus, there lies the biggest problem within post-traumatic stress disorder and the reason the hypnosis has become so popular in treating it."

Dr. Faust held out a golden pendent. As if almost by magic, Gilda's eyes were gravitated towards it.

"You see, hypnosis is a hyper-aware state of consciousness. It's where all the consciousness layers of our brain connect and the body responds supremely well to stimuli. Since all the layers of consciousness are synched in with each other, hypnosis allows one to explore their inner most darkest thoughts and defects. By using hypnosis this way, we can slowly draw ponies out of bad habits, slowly bring soldiers back home mentally from the war, and, in your case, we can help beings finally remember important moments in their life."

"How long does it usually take for one to get hypnotized?" Gilda inquired.

"That's the best part," Dr. Faust remarked. "It all depends on the one we are hypnotizing. The more they want to be hypnotized, the more their body and mind allows them to succumb to the hypnosis process."

Gilda flashed a cocky grin. "I certainly want this over with," she exclaimed jokingly.

"Then let's not waste time," Twilight remarked.

"Ohh, I hope I don't get hypnotized," Fluttershy stated out of fear.

"You won't get hypnotized if you look away," Dr. Faust commented.

Fluttershy , while shaking, covered her eyes with her hooves.

"That will do," the doctor remarked. Then, looking into Gilda's eyes, she said, "Are you ready?"

Gilda nodded. It was time to end this game. Twilight had her laugh at the expense of others, and it was time for the laughter to stop. It was time for Gilda's life to get back on track, and that would only happen if Gilda chose for this moment to be the end. This is the reason why she said yes.

The doctor held a pendent in one of her hoofs. "Alright. Here we go," and with that, the pendent started to sweep back and forth.

Gilda had seen enough movies and television shows depicting hypnosis to know what to do. Immediately, her eyes began to follow the pendent. It was golden and shinny. It was certainly worthy of her attention. A few seconds into this, Gilda expected the doctor to go through the simple repertoire; "You're getting sleepy," and all that. But Gilda was caught somewhat off guard by what the doctor said. It wasn't exactly what she expected to hear, and it certainly did its job.

"I want you to listen to my voice," Dr. Faust commanded. Gilda's ear subconsciously perked up. "It's a soothing voice. It's calm and tranquil. It reminds you of something very soothing."

The last memory Gilda had before submitting herself to the hypnosis process was hearing herself saying out loud, "Like a summer breeze?" and then everything began to shrink.

"Yes," the doctor commented. At this point all eyes were on Gilda. Fluttershy and Twilight could tell something was happening. Gilda's eyes were beginning to look different. Her eyelids closed halfway and began to flutter as though they were heavy. Her pupils however dilated like she was in deep shock. The doctor recognized that the hypnosis was beginning to take control. "Whatever makes you feel calm, I want you to relate that calm feeling to the sound of my voice. My voice is the safest thing on the planet."

Gilda's eyes continued to follow the pendant swinging back and forth. Her mind however began to turn black. The only thing that came through was the doctor's voice.

"Keep your eyes on the pendant. Now, when I count to three, I want you to fall asleep. I want you to simply tilt your head back and shut off your mind. When I clop my hooves the first time, you will be completely under the control of my voice. You answer all questions truthfully and honestly because my voice compels you to do so. Then, when I clop my hooves again, you will come back, with no memory of what you did. Nod your head if this is understood," the doctor commanded.

Gilda, unaware of what was happening, tilted her head up and down in compliance.

Suddenly, she heard a CLOP and her whole world turned black. The clop didn't even echo. One minute, she recalled…..wait a second. She couldn't recall a thing. There was just blackness, darkness. Normally she would feel fear but….for some reason, this felt right; like she belonged in this place. Besides…..she felt that this was only temporary. Hopefully it was temporary.

Meanwhile, outside Gilda's body, Twilight and Fluttershy watched as the Griffon's head, which was tilted all the way back at this point, let out the most aggressive and powerful snores anypony had ever witnessed. Fluttershy had to stifle a laugh. It certainly was amusing on a premature level to see anyone snore super loudly. As the purple unicorn and yellow Pegasus watched Gilda in awe, the white earth pony grabbed the tape recorder and pressed record. Suddenly, she clopped her hooves again.

Inside Gilda's head, it was still dark. Her body in the real world however, bolted up right violently. Fluttershy and Twilight gasped at this sudden action. What really terrified them were Gilda's eyes. Although filled with color, they were blank and empty. They were vessels meant not to see, only to be. She breathed heavily, and this concerned the doctor.

"Relax your breathing and heart rate," Faust explained.

Inside Gilda's mind, she saw everything. The words painted themselves in an awe-inspiring white font across the black sky. She did as she was told, and her breathing went down. Besides….a voice that calming deserves to be listened to.

In the real world, Gilda began to calm down. After some time, Dr. Faust finally decided it was time to continue the procedure. First, she would start with a simple task. She would ask Gilda simple questions, and see if she would respond diligently.

"I want you to raise you arms up high. Stretch yourself out like you just got out of bed."

In an almost cartoon-like fashion, the griffon began to stretch herself to an almost uncanny proportion. Fluttershy had to duck in order to make sure Gilda's wings didn't accidently strike her. A couple of bones popped but Gilda didn't stop. She continued to stretch.

"Stop stretching and relax," Faust told her.

Gilda did exactly as she was told.

"What color is the sky?" the doctor asked.

"….Blue," Gilda finally responded. Her voice was hollow yet peaceful. It was comparable to the voice of a sleeping child talking while dreaming.

Dr. Faust felt like Gilda was ready to be given a scenario. The scene could be set and Gilda would answer honestly. But first, she would have to try a simple memory; something that wouldn't cause pain or torment. Dr. Faust felt like she had to spitball an idea. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

"I want you to think back to the happiest moment of your childhood," The doctor ordered. "What day did you feel that you were your most happiest as a kid? Why would it be considered the 'greatest day of your childhood?'"

Gilda opened her beak. A small breath came out as though the memories were coming back. And in a sense they were. Inside Gilda's head, the scenery began to form. Buildings and structures were forming spontaneously out of thin air. Light came through newly constructed windows as the light got colored. Chairs swung themselves into place around a dinner table that grew from the ground. Suddenly, Gilda found herself in her childhood home.

"I'm at home," Gilda breathed out in real life. In her head, she saw two faceless figures leave through the front door. "My mom and dad are heading out for the summer…they've got some holiday they planned for themselves. " The door slammed, and Gilda began to laugh. "They'll be gone for the whole summer and they left the house to me." In her head, she emerged from the ground and went to the freezer to grab a tub of Ice Cream. She was never allowed Ice Cream as a child, but during that summer, no one was there to stop her. "I suffered a belly-ache for three days after eating all the Ice cream; but in all honesty, it was totally worth it…it was the greatest summer of my life…." Gilda unconsciously smiled and a tear went down her eye.

Twilight looked at the doctor. Her face asked if it was time to move on with the procedure. The doctor confirmed this with a nod of her head. It was time.

"Keep that memory fresh," the doctor stated. "It will be with you for the rest of your life. But for now, we're going to go to a different memory. Is that understood?"

Like sand caught in the wind, the scenery vanished, and once again, Gilda found herself in blackness. "Duly noted," she proclaimed.

"I want you to remember the night of your cart crash," Doctor Faust asked. "Can you give me some background details? Walk me through the moments leading up to the crash."

The landscape lit up inside her head. A great bon fire exploded and in her mind, she shielded herself from the heat she felt coming off it. In reality, she only flinched a little. Once she removed her wings from around her face to protect herself from the blast, she was in an entirely different world. The blackness had been replaced with the backdrop of a forest at night. There was a great big bonfire in the center, and multiple tents surrounded it. She saw several Pegasus lighting marshmallows over the flames. Many of the ponies simply danced. Couples were making out, and stumbling out of the darkness and towards center stage was none other than her friend; Rainbow Dash.

"It all began when Dashie came up to me at the party," Gilda explained in her monotone, hypnotized voice. "I could tell by the way she was stumbling that she was drunk…..She asked me why I wasn't enjoying myself…." The Gilda in her head looked down at a plastic cup, the contents of which were barely touched. "I wasn't much of a partier those days. I was more in the 'social outcasts' group and not in the 'popular kids' group. Dash however….she had a way of making friend's fast. That came naturally with her addiction to the sky and the need to go faster than anything else. So I thought this was my chance…I went with her to the party and started to fall back into my space; my natural 'alone' space…but leave it to Dashie to not leave me alone for more than three seconds…"

The subconscious set up what appeared to be a montage scene. In it, Rainbow Dash introduced her to her the new friend's and the party continued. As to why this memory came out like a montage, Gilda explained in her hypnotized state, "I was given another chance thanks to Dashie, so I wasn't going to mess this up. I started hanging out with other Pegasi. I ended up doing things…..that would be embarrassing and possibly illegal to talk about," Gilda unconsciously smiled at this thought. "I kissed many stallions that night…..I think I've kissed a mare or two…I might've kissed Rainbow Dash…."

Fluttershy and Twilight's head's perked up when the words came to their ears. In her head, the montage continued. Just when Gilda finished her sentence about Rainbow Dash, another scene popped into play, confirming this notion. "Yep, I defiantly kissed Dashie…." Fluttershy and Twilight's faces began to turn red.

"All in all, it was a fun night," Gilda unconsciously uttered as her head cut to another scene. This scene was in motion. It had her and Rainbow Dash on top of a stage coach being pulled by a very lucrative stallion. "And we intended to let that fun continue all the way home." In her vision, Rainbow Dash proclaimed "Go faster," and the driver obliged. Gilda eventually gave in and order the driver to go faster as well. He, just like the last time, couldn't resist two very attractive females asking him to go faster, and so, he did.

The cart began to bounce more violently than it did before. "We kept pressuring the driver to go faster and faster," Gilda proclaimed in the real world. Suddenly, in her vision, the cart did a violent tumble and the driver began to drift to the side. The Gilda in her head had only a few moments to react. The last thing she did was she placed a seatbelt over Rainbow Dash. "Suddenly, he struck a tree."

In her vision, the cart bounced forward, propelling Gilda into the forest. Trees whizzed past her head at light speed. Her vision started to shutter (like it does if someone were to blink really fast), and in the middle of the frame, was a tree. Long, sturdy, and defiantly heaving with pain, Gilda watched the tree become larger and larger. Then she heard a loud and painful SMACK, followed by a lifeless THUMP, and, just like her hypnotized self unconsciously explained out loud, "Then, everything went black."

Silence filled the doctor's office. Twilight leaned in. This was the moment of truth. What happened up to this point was just speculation. Proof, was about to be shoved into the daylight. The angst was killing the lavender pony.

Dr. Faust pushed her glasses closer to her eyes. She began to get thirsty. She too, was somewhat anxious about what was happening at this moment. Gulping, she asked the question that needed to be asked.

"…and then what happened?" Faust stated somewhat unsure.

The hypnotized Griffon stated, "The next thing I remembered was waking up in the hospit-…..wait…..where am I?...am I on the ground?"

In her head, the griffon's eyesight was blurry. She watched herself push herself up off the dirty ground, and wipe herself clean. She was confused. What was she doing on the ground? How did she get there?

"I'm not in a hospital," Gilda explained somewhat stunned by this revelation. "I'm out in the middle of the woods."

Twilight's eyes widen in excitement.

In the hypno-dream, Gilda turned around and saw a strange sight. In the dark light of the moon, she saw the carriage. It was meshed and mangled up against a tree and the reins which lead to the driver were connected to another tree. But the driver was nowhere to be found.

"Apparently, I have survived this crash," Gilda unconsciously said. "But what about Rainbow Dash?" In her vision, she began to run. As she went to carriage, a strange smell found itself inside Gilda's nostrils. She turned her head towards the source of the smell, and began to gag, both in her vision and in the doctor's office. "Oh sweet luna…..the driver's dead…..his body…oh my…..I can't focus on that….I got to find Dash."

The Griffon immediately ran up to the passenger door of the carriage. She looked inside the window and saw her friend. Her heart dropped. Rainbow Dash's head laid tilted at an odd angle and her mouth was opened slightly. Her eyes remained closed and Gilda could see the gash along her forehead and the dried blood under her nose.

There was moment of silence in both her hallucination and in real life. Gilda felt that it was too late. Dash was dead…..but then…..

On the window, something caught her attention. Was it fog? Why would fog on a window expand and then contrast? But it wasn't Fog. Gilda breathed a sigh of relief. "It's ok….she's breathing." Gilda announced. In her head, she laughed. "Everything's going to be fine."

Suddenly, SNAP!

In her vision, the loudest most wicked snapped echoed through the forest. Gilda had no clue where it came from and instinctively, she looked upwards towards the sky. Everything appeared to be normal. Aside from the awful noise nothing seemed out of place.

But right in front of her, she saw the source of the noise. It gave her a sick feeling in her stomach. "Oh no," she announced out loud in the doctor's office.

"What, what!" Twilight cried. Fluttershy meanwhile curled up into a ball on the couch. The suspense was breath taking. Even the doctor was reeled into the story.

"The tree," Gilda proclaimed. "The tree that we hit…..it's unstable." In her head, she watched as the tree began to move slightly forward. Little by little, the tree gradually got faster. Base upon it's angle, Gilda knew that she was in for trouble. Due to her fear, she screamed, "IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!"

In the office, Gilda's physical body moved. She got up from the couch and started to run. But then, suddenly, she looked back towards the couch, and with her glassy hallow eyes, she stared. "But I cant' leave Dash." And with that, she ran towards the couch.

In her head, she grabbed the door of the carriage and began to pull. This was a predicament, for the carriage door, due to the crash, had wedged itself into an odd position which caused the door to be crunched shut. Opening the door, would mean tearing it off its hinges.

In reality, the hypnotized Gilda grabbed the side of the couch and began to tug. She was relentless and did not let up. Fluttershy gasped and hid her head under her wings. Gilda had become somewhat animalistic in her actions. She grunted and was working up a scream as she pulled on the couch violently.

Twilight whispered into the doctor's ears with concern. "Should we stop this?"

Dr. Faust raised a hoof. "It's ok. That couch is bolted into the wall. There's no way she can-"

CRACK!

The doctor and Twilight jumped back as the left end of the couch broke away from the dry-wall. Fluttershy yelped and Gilda continued pulling.

In her head, she was far from done. She had only broken one of the door hinges with her bare talons and there was one more to go. The tree was advancing fast. Seconds became what seemed like years.

Suddenly, another CRACK emerged and the door of the carriage was thrown away into the woods.

In real life, the couch flew out from the walls and in an amazing spin move, Fluttershy and the couch were transported from one side of the office, to the other, pinning the doctor and Twilight snugly against the wall. Miraculously, no one was injured and nothing in the office was damaged.

Speaking of miraculous things, Gilda saved Rainbow Dash just in time. Jumping with the Pegasus in her arms, the tree in her vision crushed the carriage behind them and was rendered no more. Gilda and Rainbow Dash were safe. Gilda laid on her knees, breathing heavily, with Dash in her arms. She shook her and screamed "HEY!" hoping she would wake. Thankfully, she was still breathing.

In Dr. Faust's office, Gilda stated. "Dash is ok…I save her….I'm ok too. We're both uninjured."

….that word might have as well just ended the world. Twilight's face lit up with beauty and victorious ecstasy. She said it! SHE FINALLY SAID IT! After years of research, months of testing and a many days of self-doubt, GILDA FINALLY SAID IT! She was uninjured in that crash. Thus, she had never been injured before in her life.

The theory was now valid. Gilda was a superhero.

Although over for Twilight, the vision continued inside Gilda's mind. In her vision, she heard a voice out in the distance cry, "hello?" she saw a small light emerge from over the hill top, and Gilda immediately recognized it was a lantern. "DOWN HERE!" she screamed.

The lantern shook as the pony holding it began to gallop towards Gilda and Rainbow Dash. When he got down there beside them, the first thing he noticed was the unconscious Dash.

"Is she ok?" the stallion asked.

"She's unconscious but she's breathing," Gilda replied.

Then, the stallion gave Gilda an odd look and asked her, "Are you ok?"

That's when Gilda found it. That's when Gilda found her moment. After tonight, she realized that Rainbow Dash was practically the closes thing she had to a friend….heck….she was probably more than a friend. But this lifestyle with stormballl would tear them apart if both were in it. One had to put their flank on the line while the other had to assure the other that they were safe. One had to give it up.

Gilda decided that she would be the one to do so.

There was silence…..lots and lots of silence. Eventually, Dr. Faust asked Gilda whom was on the floor, "Gilda, Gilda….what's happening?"

"…There's a stallion asking me if I injured anything…..I told him I broke my wing…." Gilda responded.

Dr. Faust, confused, asked, "But you just said you didn't injure a thing. Are you lying to the stallion?"

"Yes," Gilda responded. "For Dash. It was always for Dash."

Twilight cried. It was finally over. Looking towards Dr. Faust, she singled the white mare to end the hypnotism. The doctor, noticing this, looked back towards Gilda and clopped her hooves for the final time.

Gilda woke up on the ground. Something was off. The floor was covered with pieces of dry wall and the couch was on the wrong side of the room. The doctor and Twilight were behind the couch and Fluttershy looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"…What did I miss?" the Griffon asked.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Gilda was speechless.

She was speechless when she heard herself played back on the tape recorder, admitting that she was never injured in the crash, confirming the notion that Twilight was right.

She was speechless as she left 's office, dazed and confused with every thought floating passed her head. Twilight spoke some words to her, but in her catatonic state, Gilda couldn't quite make out what she said. But it didn't matter, or so she thought.

She was speechless for the entire train ride back home. She was speechless when Fluttershy asked her repeatedly if she was ok. She was speechless when she arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. She was speechless when she went pass Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Big Macintosh, acting as though they didn't even exist. She was speechless as she went up the stairs, and entered her room.

She was speechless when she collapsed on the bed, and finally broke down crying.

Her life, as she knew it, was over. Nothing would ever be the same again. And it was all going so well. She had a new boyfriend and new friends coming along, and now it was washed to the wayside with the prospect of her destiny being re-arranged. Why did this have to happen to her?

For the next 5 hours, she didn't leave her room. She continuously cried and cried. It wasn't a loud cry. It was a soft yet hard cry. It was the type of cry that contorts one's face into hideous proportions as their eyes squint out the tears. Only one came to visit her, and that was Big Mac; whom she told that she needed space to work things out. When he asked what exactly happened, she proclaimed, "I don't want to talk about it….ever…" and that was that.

After 5 hours, she left her room to finally get a glass of water. Crying makes one very thirsty. As she made her way from the kitchen to the stairs, Gilda's mind continuously raced. Her destiny was to be….what? A superhero? What would she do? Whom could she save? She didn't even have a….costume.

There it was; hanging on the coat hanger to the side of the stairs. It was an extra-large poncho that Big Mac wore when working in the summer rains. Gilda tried it on one time and Big Mac laughed as he told her he didn't like it on her because it hid her face.

Gilda threw on the poncho. She looked into the mirror…it felt right.

The sadness was dissipating with each step she took towards the door to leave the acres. When she was one step away, she finally remembered Twilight's words from the doctor's office. She recalled that she asked Twilight about what she needed to do now. The response was this.

"Go to ponies Gilda. Go to those who need you the most. It's ok to be scared. This part that comes next isn't diagramed in square boxes with pictures. What comes next is real. What comes next is dangerous. But most importantly, what comes next is what will save us all…..we all need a savior….and this is where she enters into our life's, clothed in mystery and guided by honor and loyalty. Gilda, this is where you gain redemption."

As she left Sweet Apple Acres that night, she planned on doing just that.


	13. Redemption

Go to where ponies were. It was a statement that was easier said than done. Halfway to Ponyville, it had started to rain. Luckily, Gilda's poncho kept all of the rain off of her. It pitter-pattered across the pseudo-leather; creating light plopping sounds. The wind blew slightly, causing the poncho to ruffle. Her talons and lion's paws created soft crunchy and squishy sounds as she continued to walk towards Ponyville. None of these sounds distracted Gilda from her intense train of thought however.

Where was she supposed to go? What was the one place, where she could interact with hundreds of ponies, and not have a single one notice her?

She knew that her major ability was the power to be unharmed and sustain incredible amounts of physical injury. That was truth. She also knew that combined with this ability, she had the power of over-exceptional strength. That was also a truth. But the power that she had which made her equivalent to comic-book superheroes was the great power of existential observation; instinct. Her instinct could only work if she could physically interact (touch) other ponies. She had to physically touch them, and not have the pony notice this contact.

Where could she go where a simple brush up or touch was just a common occurrence? She had to go to someplace where ponies would be packed in tight, with no way to move without getting touched. But where?

As she arrived in Ponyville, she heard the ambient hiss of steam trains, followed by the bells and whistles, with a conductor shouting "all aboard," off in the distance. It made her smile. No one would expect anything strange about an unsuspected touch at a train station.

She climbed the stairs of the Ponyville train station, feeling as though she had an Alicorn-like power. Everything around her began to feel heavy. It was as if all her surroundings were becoming important for some transcendental reason. She felt EPIC. It was a glorious feeling.

It was much better than the sadness.

Once on top of the stairs, she scanned the train station, looking for a place to stand. Her plan was simple. She would let the ponies come to her. All she had to do was find a place where she could stay at, where ponies would be shuffling pass her and constantly bumping into her without a single conscious thought concerning this interaction. She smiled when she noticed the path by the exit gates seemed particularly packed with ponies.

She made her way to a middle-ground, somewhere where she would be in the middle of the road, yet not in anyponies way. Once she found it, she stood absolutely still, only moving an inch when the first pony bumped into her.

Just as she predicted, like what happened at sugar-cube corner, a roaring headache crashed through her skull, accompanied by a white light and a burning vision. Apparently, the pony that bumped into her was a female. She knew this because in her vision, the central character was a female earth pony. In the vision, a lime green earth pony spoke to a grey stallion over the counter of a jewelry store. She asked for the grey stallion (who apparently worked at the jeweler) to grab the farthest watch on the highest shelf. While turned and blinded, the lime green female reached over the counter and stuffed two very high priced bracelets into her satchel. No one would ever notice. No one ever did.

Gilda's mind leapt from the vision back into reality. She began to scan the crowd looking for a medium sized, female, lime green earth pony. Sadly, as she stared into the crowd, nothing sparked her attention. She couldn't see shit. But the worst part was, before she was even 15 seconds into the search, another random pony bumped into her and another vision appeared.

In this vision, she was greeted by the presence of a zebra lying on the concrete ground. The zebra was bloodied and beaten. It was also a male because Gilda knew Zecora and this zebra looked nothing like her. No, it was a male zebra, and he was dying. He was also whimpering, and spitting out and coughing up blood with each beg for mercy. Above him, was the pony who smashed into Gilda earlier. It was a blue colt with a gray mane. Popping his neck, he proclaimed to the half-dead zebra whom he had destroyed "go back to Africa!" with a laugh and no remorse before galloping away.

The vision faded, and Gilda was left stunned. She scanned the crowd for that particular blue colt so that she could find him, apprehend him and bring him to justice. Again, the pony was lost in a sea of other ponies, never to be seen again. At this point, Gilda thought about why she was even doing this. Of course, it was her destiny, but what would she do after she caught the guy. Sure, she was going to bring him to the cops, but what then? How was she suppose to distinguish when, where, and why that stallion broke that poor zebra? What he did was wrong, but why was it her duty to make sure he paid? Maybe he had already suffered the consequences. So what was she to do?

Suddenly, another pony bumped into her. This one provided a vision that was the worst of the three. It sickened her to her core. It terrified her to the point of weakness. But the prevailing emotion that she felt after experiencing the vision was anger. This anger was so powerful, that all other emotions simultaneously dissipated when the vision ceased to be.

In the vision, there was a lady unicorn. She had orange fur and a blue/purple mane a tail. She was also drunk and passed out on a bed. Obviously this was a party situation. The room she was in somehow felt like it wasn't this unicorn's room. On top of that, loud music played in the background.

This unicorn wasn't alone.

In the room with her, was a forest green stallion unicorn with a brown mane. He stared at the lady in fascination. He continuously rubbed her flank. He spoke softly and with a nervous tone.

"You've had too much to drink right?" he proclaimed.

The lady unicorn coughed, turned over, and vomited the contents of her stomach.

The awkward teenage male unicorn just continued this creepy action of rubbing her flank while speaking softly.

"I doubt you'll remember anything from tonight," he commented.

The lady unicorn continued to twist and turn on the bed; lost in her haze of alcohol consumption.

After a few more moments of staring, the male unicorn noticed that the door to the bedroom was slightly opened. He using his magic, he closed the door. He locked it tightly, as he wished not to be disturbed. He crossed over that line that one has for personal space, when he crawled on top of the bed; hovering over the lady unicorn. He placed on unwelcomed tongue in between her lips.

And he raped her.

Gilda didn't see anything that would've been considered unsanitary; but she saw enough. She saw enough to cause her rage to boil over. She stomped her way through the crowd of ponies, pushing and shoving each of them out of the way. She didn't want to lose this one. The last two, while wrong doers, had no personal affect on Gilda's conscious.

But if she lost this one, she would never forgive herself. This time, she wanted to kick this pony's teeth in. This time, she wanted his skin to be set to flames. This time, she wanted to watch him suffer. This time it was personal.

She was elated when she was a green neck and a brown mane amongst the crowd. She automatically recognized the guitar cutie mark from her vision. As the stallion moved, she noticed his facial features and she concluded that this wasn't a mistake. The guy she was stalking was the guy from her vision who bumped into her earlier.

She kept moving forward. Although pushing and shoving, no pony ever noticed her. The art of stealth was new to Gilda, but it proved to be an art she was good at. She kept moving until she was approximately a few feet from the unicorn. That's when she saw a sight that caused her jaw to drop.

There were two older ponies, one a female unicorn and the other a male earth pony. One was light purple with a white mane, the other one was green with a yellow mane. They were obviously this Unicorn's parents; for they were hugging him and the purple female kissed him on the cheek. And he was happy, and the parents were happy.

Gilda started to back away. This was wrong. If she attacked this stallion now and brought him to justice, she would appear to be the enemy. It would never hold up in trial. And for another thing…who knows how long ago the incident in her vision took place? Maybe it was just a simple mistake on the unicorn's part? Did he deserve to die? Gilda felt that way but…he had family too…..

Who was in the wrong? Should any pony die? Is one sin truly unforgiveable?

Gilda felt like throwing up. Her insides started twisting due to her massive amount of confusion. Her brain started shouting words of self-doubt. The words bounced off the walls of her cranium, echoing down to her inner core. She felt lost. It was like the sadness was happening all over again.

If her destiny was to be a superhero, how would she achieve that destiny? When, where, and how will she receive her redemption?

She didn't half to think about it too long. As she continued to back up, her tail touched a pony behind her. The vision began again. The bright white light faded into view and suddenly she was transported somewhere else. She could feel her brain pulsate from pain as she watched the vision played out in front of her. She also felt fear.

In the vision, she was in a house. The door bell rang and a blue stallion with a dark brown mane walked towards the apparent front door of the house and opened it. On the other side of the door, was a white stallion with no mane whose very appearance frightened Gilda greatly. He had that wild stare behind heavily lidded eyes which made Gilda uncomfortable. His large stature was positioned in a threatening stance. And he had that soft smile which Gilda immediately identified with crazy ponies.

When the door opened, there were no noises for several seconds. A long period of silence fell into the scene played out in Gilda's head. Once that period of silence was over, the blue stallion asked somewhat intimidated, "Can I help you?"

"…may I come in?" the bald white horse answered.

Another period of silence. "What?" the blue horse asked.

"You're house is very beautiful," the white stallion replied. "….I want it…may I come in?"

Just like the stallion in her vision, Gilda felt a cold sweat go down the back of her neck. This white stallion had something wrong with him. Whether or not he was actually a menace, that had not been determined. But there was certainly a screw loose somewhere.

Like any rational pony, the blue stallion replied. "No."

There was a violent flash. The contents of Gilda's vision sped up double time. Everything went in an extremely fast pace. She saw the white stallion storm in and decimate the home. The blue stallion was beaten into a defenseless pulp. The white maniac stormed upstairs and emerged seconds later with two children, a boy and a girl, screaming with tears going down their faces, yelling "mommy, mommy!"

The last thing Gilda saw and heard before the vision faded, was the shrill scream of either the children or the mother, and then she saw the corpse of the father. Blood trickled out of his eyes, nose, and mouth. His body lay sprawled in profane positions. He was just a lifeless shell of the blue stallion that once was. And before the spirit left his body, he coughed, "Someone….save my children…..save them-"

Gilda crash landed on earth with a thud. Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated.

Now there was an objective. Whether or not she could bring the stallion to justice that was not the major concern. The major concern was the children. Where were they? What happened to them? Could she still save them?

While breathing heavily due to the intense revelation, she saw the milky white fur pony in the crowd. She noticed that, ironically, his cutie mark was a screw. It was impossible for her to lose track of the stallion once she was locked on. Knowing that she had a mission objective to fulfill, she kept up gracefully.

This is where her life would begin. This was the Alpha and the Omega. This was her redemption, which she had to fulfill, so help her Celestia.

And there was never a hint of sadness left in her soul afterwards. It had dissipated. It had disappeared.

She was free.

It was her duty to set others free as well.

* * *

At this point the rain had started to torrentially down pour after Gilda left the station. It was becoming quite difficult to follow the white stallion in the rain without losing him. But she made do. It seemed as if every step she took, the gravity of the situation weighed down upon her even more. And, if that wasn't enough, with each step, the rain got worst and worst.

Occasionally, Gilda would scram behind a bush or a tree to make sure she wasn't detected by the insane renegade. This was only when it seemed like the stallion was about to peer over his shoulder. Apparently, he never caught Gilda because she led him up to the house.

This was where Gilda had to stop. She had to breathe slowly. Correction; she was trying to breath slowly. It was the same exact house in her vision. It was a large house, by itself in the middle of Ponyville. It lay at the end of a great hill. It's large size and isolated surroundings gave off the impression of doom equivalent to that of a haunted house. Everything was falling into place. Gilda had no idea what would happen once she went inside, but it frightened her.

She stuffed down her feelings and kept a straight face. She had a job to do; a redemption to fulfill. There was no time for second guessing. It was all in or nothing.

She waited 5 seconds after the evil stallion entered the room before she took her first step. She was careful not to make any noises once she went inside. She closed the door behind her softly, as she gazed into the shithole that the house had turned into.

The front door opened up into the living room. To her right, was a TV blaring constant static. There were two doors to her left spaced far apart which lead into bedrooms. Pass the last door was on open hallway which lead to an office, a bathroom, and the master bedroom. If one were to walk into that open area and stand in the office, to the right of that office space was the door which went outside. If one were to step outside that door, and turn to their left and walk straight, they would hit a patio. Under the patio was a pool, covered with tarp for its retirement. Inside the office space, if one were to look to their left, they would see another open space which went into the kitchen, which was in front of her. Also, in front of her, were the stairs which went only upstairs. In the kitchen, pass the stove which lay on the far end of the kitchen, was another door, which lead to the laundry room. That room had stairs which lead to the basement. It also had another door which went to the same patio mentioned before. Gilda couldn't see all of this, but she would soon scourge the entire area in her grand adventure.

The scene she saw was not a pleasant one. Trash had been thrown all over the place. A couch had been torn to shreds. Blood stains were visible on the carpet. The house smelled of fear and death. The house symbolized destruction in Gilda's mind. It was the theoretical hell that she had to go through, in order to get into heaven. The constant blaring of static was an eerie and maddening annoyance.

The sound of shattering glass snapped Gilda's attention back to reality. This was followed by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. A troll like grumble came from the white psychotic emerging from the top of the stairs. Her uttered hysterical obscenities and stumbled as though her were drunk, or pissed, or maybe he was even both at the same time.

Before the white stallion even caught a glimpse of her, Gilda found shelter inside the closest bedroom. There was a few seconds of terror and suspense that Gilda experienced after closing the door behind her. But, after she heard the refrigerator in the kitchen open, Gilda wiped away the sweat brewing on her brow, and gave forth a relieved "whew."

Then the depression set in as she started to analyze her surroundings.

It was a small child's room. It was a girl's room as well. Gilda could make this out from the walls painted pink and the random stuffed animals spread out across the floor. She felt immensely sad. A poor child, a poor, young, female child had possibly gone through the worst trauma imaginable. At best, the child had escaped. At worst, the child was dead, only after having the worst pain imaginable inflicted upon it.

Gilda turned around and peered out the peep hole to see what the white stallion was doing. He was lying on the couch, drinking the beer, and watching nothing but the static. This was odd, but maybe not unusual for psychotics.

Suddenly, she heard something. A light glitch in the air caused Gilda's ears to perk up. It sounded wet and organic. It was a sniffle. It was coming from the closet.

Gilda slowly approached the closet. Her heart raced as she tried to prepare herself for what she was about to see. As she got closer, she could distinctly pick out two voices coming from the closet. One was feminine, and the other was masculine. One sounded older than the other. Gilda related these noises to her vision and automatically assumed that she was going to see the two foals that she saw in her vision.

She was right.

But she was still shocked to find the two foals looking up at her with glassy eyes. The eyes were filled with terror. The eyes were red not only from crying, but also from exhaustion. Across their bodies, several lacerations and bruises were discovered. The worst injury was found in the older brother. His left eye contained chunks of broken glass. There was vomit on the floor of the closet. And even after seeing all of these grotesque images and adding them up, Gilda was not surprised. She knew that there was something much worst to be discovered soon.

The children looked up to Gilda, amazed and terrified by this new stranger. The stranger lifted a talon to its beak, making the 'keep quiet,' symbol. With a soft, motherly voice, the hooded figure (Gilda) told the children "Don't be afraid. I'm here to save you."

The once exhausted frames filled with delight and oxygen. Could this be true? Was their hell finally over with?

Gilda snapped off the duct-taped bondages tying them hog-tied style. Once they could move, they hugged Gilda ferociously. Gilda returned this hug, tears coming down her face.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed something that made her want to throw up. There was a crusty white substance found on their fur. It smelled awful and Gilda had a gut suspicion that she already knew what it was. She was too afraid to come to the conclusion by herself though.

So, after ripping off the duct-tape covering the older brother's mouth, she asked him, "what did the bad colt do to you?"

The older brother appeared to be old enough to be out of primary school. He already had a cutie mark, (a paint pallet), and his leaner body tone indicated that he was possibly a teenager.

So he knew the gravity of the situation when he told her, without missing a beat, what the stallion did to him and his sister. "He molested us both."

Gilda's heart sank. Her stomach flipped. Her muscles became loose and she started to shake uncontrollably. If she was a weaker being mentally, she would've passed out.

Although she was already at her lowest spiritually, Gilda's emotions crashed when after removing her gag, the little filly proclaimed in a lisp "please save mommy."

The children told Gilda that their mother was upstairs. When Gilda gazed through the peep hole again, much to her excitement, the psychotic was gone. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for her newest objective. She told the kids to stay put and that she would be right back, and she exited the bedroom.

She noticed that the criminal was in the kitchen fixing himself something to eat. Without making a sound, she went up the stairs and entered the newest section of the house. To Gilda's right was a door which went into another bathroom. To Gilda's left was another bedroom. In this bedroom, there was a TV and a radiator. Tied to the radiator, was a tan unicorn with blonde hair. She appeared to be dazed, disoriented; quite possibly, she was dead.

That didn't stop Gilda.

She walked over and began to undo the bondages tying her to the radiator. These bounds were not duct-tape. There were stronger ties like the ones some would find in action-figure boxes. They were wrapped around the lady's hooves so tightly that the skin was broken and there was dried blood.

As Gilda tried to untie her, she heard the female cough out something. Gilda was unsure of what she said so she leaned down to listen to her. She was expecting something like "you saved us," or "thank you."

She was not expecting a low and raspy cry telling Gilda to, "Watch out."

Searing pain traveled through Gilda's skull as a glass bottle broke itself over it. Two hooves collided with her back and proceeded to stomp her out. She rolled over to see her attacker, the white stallion, with rage painted across his face, viciously kicking her in the chest. One hoof caught her in the beak, and Gilda felt pain.

But she knew that she couldn't be injured.

She scratched the stallion's chest with her claws, causing him to jump back a bit. This gave Gilda enough time to get up and tackle him. They fell to the floor were Gilda began scratching and punching him.

He rolled over on top of her and bit her ear. A large screech of pain came out of Gilda's mouth. Her tail wrapped around the white stallion's neck and chocked him. She extended her wings, which kicked him in the mouth, causing him to fly back.

She got up off the ground, and using her wings, she charged right at him. He ducked, causing her to hit the glass. The window broke, but didn't shatter. Seeing this, the stallion found a way to end the fight for good.

Using his teeth again, he picked up Gilda and slammed her head once more into the window. The window fully broke and Gilda lay exhausted on the window frame. The Stallion began kicking her back once more, using both his fore legs and hind legs. Gilda turned and swiped the air. The white stallion used his hind legs and bucked Gilda right in the face. The force of the kick was caused her to tumble lifelessly out of the window.

She was free falling. Her world was constantly turning upside down every three seconds. Since the poncho she wore was made for earth ponies, there was no room for her wings to extends, and so, she was unable to fly. Suddenly, she struck the side of the patio, causing her body to bounce off and flip several times in the air. She continued to drop. Time was lost in space.

PLOP!

The falling had stopped. Gilda was tired. She felt terrible, but was uninjured. She was confused because of the fact that where she landed, and the ground which she was laying upon at that moment, didn't feel hard like grass. In fact, if felt soft, and squishy.

Unsure of what was happening; Gilda slowly got up and studied her surroundings.

Her heart stopped when she saw the tarp started to undo itself.

Gilda was in the pool. She was on the tarp and she was trapped. She was being sucked into the water, with no way to escape. Her only weakness was devouring her like she was food. In a panic, she tried to fly again, but that just caused the tarp to sink in faster. She felt water go down her lungs and she coughed.

And then everything went black.

Flashes of her blue reality would happen very quickly and would alternate at times. She flailed all her limbs about in panic, hoping that she could escape the tarp. But she couldn't. More water was entering into her lungs. This was the end. This is where she would die. Eventually, Gilda stopped fighting, and the tarp slowly began to wrap around her.

THUNK!

A large piece of metal pierced through the top of the water and struck Gilda in the head. Unsure about what just happened, Gilda tossed her limbs about once again in a panic. Eventually, she noticed that the piece of metal stayed were it was at, and in her straining eyes, she recognized it as the stick that one uses to clean their pool. Gilda latched onto it with her talon, and yanked on it hard, twice.

She felt herself slowly reemerging. She struck the surface of the water and breathed beautiful air. She coughed and gagged and eventually realized that she was at the edge of the pool. Using her strength, she prepared to lift herself up.

Suddenly, she felt two pair of small teeth latch on to either side of her wings and pull her out of the water. Once she was on the ground, she looked up to see whom had assisted her.

The two children from earlier stared at her, awestruck by her enormous size as she stood in the rain. The poncho she still had on created a great silhouette. Her face was hidden and she seemed like some great angel.

There was a moment of pause as Gilda stood up, trying to figure out what to do next. In that moment of silence, the young filly asked Gilda, "Are you a superhero?"

Gilda felt her heart tug. This was her destiny. The sadness had now been destroyed. This is where she belonged. "Yes," the griffon replied before taking off towards the basement door. She knew what she had to do.

* * *

The beer sprinkled gently down the hooves of the past out female, as the insane white stallion continuously spat upon her. No remorse, no shame, no dignity was found inside his soul. In his eyes, this was just a way to pass the time. Dumb bitch couldn't suck worth a damn; might as well taught her and spit upon her as well.

If he were to have paid attention, he would've heard the strange creek from behind him. He would've seen the shadow's changing on the walls. He would've noticed the hooded vigilante coming back from the grave; stalking closely behind for the purpose of revenge. Most importantly, if he would've paid attention, he would've had time to react before Gilda caught him in a choke hold.

But fortunately, for the sake of pony nature, he didn't pay attention, and Gilda was easily able to choke him out, and grip tightly, with the sole intent of ending his life.

He gasped and moved backwards as far as he could. Gilda used her back claws and wrapped them around his waist tightly, keeping her off the ground. He moved harshly against the wall, slamming Gilda. He jumped and pushed Gilda into the wall again. Just like before, nothing happened. The wall started to crack and a perfect outline of Gilda body emerged.

Air started to constrict. The enemy yelled in vicious smite and fear. He spun Gilda around like a rag doll. Still, however, Gilda hanged on tightly. The white stallion started elbowing Gilda straight in the face. He used enough strength to where Gilda found herself seeing stars. Nevertheless, this only caused her to tighten her grip. Her beak should've been reduced to powder long ago, but her bones stayed as strong as her conviction, and that was saying something.

The mentally unstable stallion screamed a ferocious cry of defeat. He moved his body quickly and slammed Gilda in the wall behind him three more times. More holes were added into the walls, and her body remained solid. The lamp was knocked off its bed top and chairs and table's had been over turned. Gilda remained latched.

Then, the criminal fell on his knees, and with a quick jerk of Gilda's arm, she snapped his neck, killing him instantly.

Her breath was heavy and animal like. She growled as she tugged on the male's neck, insuring his death. He spat blood, and his eyes rolled back into his skull. She laid him down gently, as his dead body collapsed to the floor.

She was victorious.

Her redemption was complete.

After a few seconds of complete disbelief, staring at the body, Gilda finally snapped herself back into the realm of existence, and ran towards the mother. The mother seemed to be asleep. The cuts in her wrists Gilda could now analyze more deeply, and the griffon discovered that they were infected. She had not left this radiator for possibly days. When Gilda undid the bounds, immediately, both hooves flew up and wrapped around Gilda's neck.

The mother whispered, "Thank you," and then died in Gilda's arms.

Gilda was frozen in time. This single handedly was the deepest and darkest moment she had ever experienced. She laid down the mother slowly, and when she turned her head, she saw the two children standing in the door way. One of them held a phone, and told her that they called an ambulance for mommy.

Gilda placed a finger to her beak, and like the mysterious ghost that she appeared to be towards the children, her wings broke through the back of the poncho, and she flew out towards the night sky.

* * *

When he awoke, he felt weightless. The lights danced strangely off his eyes. He remembered that he was awaiting in the living room with his two sisters, wondering where Gilda went to after they discovered that she had left the farm. Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Applejack had all been worried sick. They stood up as long as they could. But eventually, around 2:00 am, they fell asleep in the living room.

It was now 3:30 am, and Big Mac felt as though he was being carried. He looked around his surrounding and realized he was traveling upstairs. He was dumbfounded when he realized that he was being carried…..

By his Girlfriend.

The look on Gilda's face was what caused Macintosh to grow silent. She had a thousand yard stare. Mentally, she was not back on earth. Big Mac felt as though he wasn't on earth either. This was such a strange moment. And it defiantly wasn't the most masculine position to be in; to be carried by your girlfriend.

It wasn't too long before Big Mac realized that they were heading towards Gilda's bedroom. By the time they turned upstairs to enter her room, Gilda looked down at Big Mac.

She smiled.

His face, his look, the way his golden mane cascaded down his red fur, it broke the spell that she had been in ever since she left the hypnotherapist's office. She kissed him, deeply and passionately, and slowly, she laid him down on the bed.

Rationally, Big Mac knew what was happening. But still, he had to ask, "Gilda…..what's going on?"

The ex-bully; the once confused Griffon; the lost but now found Gilda replied with a chuckle, "I had a bad dream."

She took the sheets and covered them both under it. She blew out the candle beside them and whispered lustfully, "Make me forget."

For the rest of the night, they made another dream together; one of peace, and of love. The best part was, it was all actually happening.


	14. The End

**A/N: Ok guys. Real talk here. There's been much hype and speculation (particularly from one commenter) that I will make a sequel to this. In all honesty, it was intriguing. In fact, aside from the reality that I was creating a demo in Nashville, part of the reason why it took so long for this chapter was because I was deciding what to do. Should there be a sequel? Should there be a series? Thoughts like that. But the biggest thought I had was "Is this the last chapter?"**

**This story is based off the film "Unbreakable," by M. Night Shymalan. Now, before you throw the stones at me, you should all know that this was his LAST good movie. In fact, f*** it. I believe this is his best movie! "Unbreakable," basically took a deeper, darker, and more artistic look into the origins of a superhero. It's basically an adult version of the Superman story. Better yet, the best way to describe this film is "what if Superman lived on Earth, and didn't know he was superman?" the film talked about such themes as destiny and fate and while I personally believe that with enough hard work, one can change their fate, this movie really played well with that forte and I adore it.**

**But this film pissed a lot of people off. Not that it was bad. On the contrary; typically it was adored by critics. But, as M. Night is known for, the twist ending (while a good twist) left the film with so much left untouched that a lot of people hated it. Word of mouth began to spread and the film did poorly in the box office.**

**So, this is where I found myself in a pickle. Should I create my own ending, or stay true to the film that this fic is based off from even though the ending of the film ticked a lot of people off? While gone, I brought with me a notebook. I brain stormed cool endings (one of which I'll use in the epilogue). I charted out details. I even wrote rough drafts of chapters, but they all kind of stunk. None of them felt right.**

**Which is why, I am going to remain true to the movie, and make this the last chapter.**

**I actually like the ending of the film and I think it's perfect for this story for three reasons.**

**1. Because of the way I sat my characters up; the ending of the film will lead to a perfect relationship arch with Big Mac and Gilda. Now I know most of you wanted me to develop the relationship more in detail…but honestly….what more is there to show? I think that if I go on describing their love and how they'll have babies and get married, this fic will become too devoted to the romance and that IS NOT THE HEART OF THE STORY! Pretty much, the relationship is well established. It began as sort of a fling, but Big Mac and Gilda found out that they actually kind of liked each other. They fell out, then fell back and love, and with this last chapter they will have "the talk." You can decide what happens next. Hey, I'm totally cool if one of you guys goes off and creates a sequel to this story; just be sure in the description to link this story as well. So, with that in mind, the ending of the film will help close off the arch of Big Mac and Gilda's relationship cleanly and that is why I am making this chapter the last chapter.**

**2. This story is not what you think it is. Simple as that. I think I might've lead the wrong impression by creating a story that seemed like it would be a big action spectacular. It is not a generic superhero story with lots of action. It's a story with lots of exposition and heart within the character development and the story. In fact, the major action scene was the one described in the last chapter and that's that. People wanted big explosions and fist fights and THAT IS NOT THE HEART OF THE STORY! The heart of the story is Gilda, and her redemption. The heart of the story also involves Twilight Sparkle. This leads me to part 3.**

**3. While the story has a back drop and the typical trappings of a superhero origin story, the film and this story itself is thematically about the ideas and argument for pro-destiny. And what better fandom to try out destiny than My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Please watch DigibronyMLP's video about the role that Destiny plays in the FIM universe. The link is here - watch?v=ljIXLLp3E58 The reason why this should be the last chapter in the end is because since this story is about destiny, the story should end showing all aspects that destiny encompasses, including its dark side. Gilda found her destiny, which was the light side. The dark side of destiny shall be associated with one character. Whom you may ask? Well, that's for you to find out. Mwhahaha.**

**So, without further ado, here it is. The long awaited final chapter of REDEMPTION. It's been great fun. I had a great time developing and writing this story. An Epilogue shall follow soon after. I love you all. I made some great internet friends. God Bless, peace and love.**

**BillyGoatHciks511.**

**Here it is.**

* * *

He woke up with a tongue in his mouth.

He also woke up feeling happy, elated, relaxed and warm; the typical emotions that one experiences the morning after the first time one has sex with a long time consensual lover. But the tongue in the mouth was unexpected. However, it was not unwelcomed. As Big Mac submitted himself to consciousness, his eyes at first were wide and his breath was stuck in his lungs due to the unforeseen tongue in said mouth. He felt the sharp edges of her beak grip slightly around his nuzzle. It was enough to keep her locked but soft enough not to break the skin. As he felt the grip, along with the tongue massaging his own tongue, he returned the kiss with equal fervor, and closed his eyes slightly.

This was heaven.

It had been several months since Gilda arrived on the farm. At first, he thought she was different. Not pretty per say (although she defiantly was) but she carried her body in a way that struck Big Mac as odd. She carried herself strongly. She carried herself with a weight that not only was a blessing, but it revealed itself to be a burden. It was a blessing because the way that she carried herself showed herself to be a true survivor. Nothing could bring this woman down. But on the other hand, the weight also showed the world that she was damaged. She felt unsure about many things, and slowly, the weight was beginning to crush her.

Big Mac wanted to get to know her more. Turns out, much to his pleasure, that he was the one that aided her in removing that weight from her bones.

Gilda felt happy. Typically, these mornings were coming off and on since the first time she arrived at the barn. But now that happiness had transformed itself into something bigger. She felt contentment. She felt as though she finally achieved her destiny. All the struggle that she went through wasn't worth nothing. All that struggle finally paid off, and as an added bonus, she founded that special someone.

Gilda felt that today, she would be happy for the rest of her life, as long as Big Mac agreed to hold her in his arms.

And from the way he gripped her, pulling her chest closer to his until they could feel each other's body heat; Big Mac wasn't letting go anytime soon.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, as self evident from the fact that Gilda and Big Mac were slowly loosing oxygen, and had to release themselves from each other's lips.

As they pulled away from each other, both stared into the other's eyes. There was a moment of peace and admiration. They were gazing into the soul of one another, and it was beautiful. There was no wrong. There was no pain. There simply was being and love.

And in that moment, Gilda smiled; and then she began to speak.

"Your breath stinks," she said with a laugh.

"My what?" Big Mac replied as he watched his lady cackle and laugh into his chest.

"Your breath baby," Gilda said into his hair. "I know it's not the most romantic thing to say but it smells bad." She continuously laughed.

Big Mac smiled and stared into the ceiling. "What's it smell like?"

"Hard to say," Gilda responded. "But I can tell you what it tastes like."

"What's it taste like?" Macintosh asked.

"Morning…" there was quite for a little bit.

Big Mac pulled her close and pecked her beak one time.

"You taste like cherries," he told her softly.

"Aw, how sweet," Gilda sarcastically responded with a genuine smile of happiness. "You didn't even leave your tongue in my mouth for like two seconds."

Big Mac cocked a brow. "Well then allow me-"

Before she could react, it was Gilda who got the unexpected yet not unwelcomed tongue intruding into her mouth. She reacted the same way Big Mac did. There was a few seconds of wide eyed, faltering, 'wtf just happened,' reactions going off in her brain. Then, she let herself sink into an enveloping happiness that washed over her body like royal milk.

Big Mac pulled away. "You still taste like cherries," he responded deeply.

Gilda smiled softly and then kissed his neck.

They laid themselves into one another and hugged deeply. Again, a couple of seconds of un-fearful silence surrounded the room, and then Big Mac broke the spell.

"Honey….I don't suppose we had the talk yet."

The gears and cogs working in Gilda's mind stopped working for a few seconds. "The what?"

"The talk," Big Mac responded. "You know….the one where we talk about our future together?"

The cogs then clicked themselves back into overdrive. "Oh yeah….that talk."

Big Mac raised a brow. Her tone of voice seemed to suggest that she was sad that he brought it up. "You seem disappointed."

"Not disappointed," Gilda corrected him. "I'm more anxious than anything else."

"Why so?" her man asked contently.

She stared into her eyes. She had a glazed over look. "I don't know how you'll respond."

With passion encircling his heart, and with as much love and charity as he could muster, he spoke softly and without intentions of inspiring fear or anxiety, and proclaimed, "Tell me. Where do you want this to go?"

Gilda laid her head back down into his chest. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of some romantic way of replying to the question while sounding original and not cheesy at all. She listened to his heart beat. The rythmatic pulsing almost put her back to sleep. She had an out of body experience when she heard herself say out loud, "All the way."

Big Mac stared into the ceiling. He was smiling. Meanwhile Gilda was mentally scolding herself. 'That had to have been the dumbest thing to say-'

"I agree with you completely," Big Mac replied.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She melted into his body. There was a picture on the wall of Gilda's bedroom. It was a picture of the founder's of Sweet Apple acres smiling as the unfinished barn stood proudly in the forefront. Gilda subconsciously thought that the figures in the photo were smiling at her good fortune; a blessing from those on the other side.

"Marriage?" Big Mac asked knowing what the answer would be.

"The biggest one anyone's ever seen…and I am not wearing some frilly-ass bridal gown," Gilda replied with confidence. "I'm going to be the most badass bride that anyone's ever seen."

"Yeah," Big Mac replied with a grin. "In leather thigh-high go-go boots and fishnets."

Gilda punched him in the chest playfully. He felt like a brick house. He chuckled.

"Only if you wear a top hat and coat tails," Gilda responded as she slowly crawled up his body to face him.

"Baby, I'm not introducing clowns," Big Mac responded.

"And I'm not getting kinky until our honeymoon," Gilda playfully stated as she circled the imaginary hairs on his chest.

"I thought you were rather kinky last night," Big Mac responded as he quirked a brow.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Gilda exclaimed as she consumed his face with a kiss once again. This one lasted for a good 5 seconds before they pulled away once more. "That is, of course, to be revealed over time."

"Kids?" Big Mac asked again.

"Yep," Gilda responded politely but quickly. The subject of kids, while she agreed on having them one day in the future, was a rather touchy subject with her. The fact that she was the by-product of bad parenting, made her feel unsure about how fit she would be as a parent.

"How many?" her lover asked her.

Gilda shrugged. "How many you want?"

Big Mac grew a cheeky grin. "If I were to have it my way….I would want ten."

Gilda's eyes went wide. "TEN! TEN! How in the hell can you possibly want ten?"

Big Mac laughed. "I know that it's impossible to have that many kids and take equally care of them perfectly," Big Mac proclaimed as his grin grew bigger. His green eyes locked down on her yellow ones. "Six will do."

"NO!" Gilda replied with playful yet serious shock as Big Mac laughed once more. "What's your fascination with kids in large numbers? Why six?"

"It's a good number," Big Mac replied with a shrug. "A good, wholesome, round number."

"No," Gild responded as she held up her talons. "3 is a round number. You know, that's why it has the little humps."

"I guess we can table this discussion for now and bring it up later," Big Mac stated with a sigh.

"No," Gilda said with content. "We won't table this to bring it up later. We'll finish the conversation now. Big Mac, it's my uterus, not a clown car!"

If either of the two were to have paid attention around the time Gilda first started screaming, they would've heard the audible hoofsteps coming up the stairs. That way, neither of the two would've been scared out of their wits when AJ kicked in the door.

The door flew open. Gilda yelped as she turned around and Big Mac almost flew off the bed.

"ALL RIGHT!" Applejack stated before taking in her surroundings. "JUST WHAT IN THE HELL Y'ALL DOIN UP-"

At that point, her voice died in her throat. Her eyes began to examine the room. She slowly revealed to herself the unexpected horror before her. The room smelled a familiar smell. It smelled of sweat and something rather risqué to say the least. Applejack began to blush. She noticed the tattered sheets, and the two lying in bed. Most importantly, she noticed the redder than usual face of her brother, and the ruffled feathers of Gilda.

She sighed disappointedly. "aww hell. I appreciate the fact that y'all a couple and stuff, but someone's gotta clean the sheets later and it aint' going to be me. So next time, either go to hotel or take care of the dang laundry cause…sweet Celestia….whatever."

Applejack slowly began to walk out the door. The baffled and embarrassed couple watched silently for a moment; unsure how to take AJ's reaction.

Before Applejack left completely, she turned to face the couple once more. "Oh, and by the way. Gilda, it's good to see you back home. Breakfast is ready. I made waffles with eggs." And then she walked out of sight.

* * *

Applebloom woke up slowly. She felt somewhat misplaced and weird. As she examined her surroundings, she realized why. The last thing that she could recall before going to sleep was waiting for Gilda in the living room. She was now waking up in her bed. AJ must've carried her up the stairs last night and put her to sleep. That's the conclusion that the Cutie Mark Crusader came up with. This is not the first time this had happened, thus the reason why Applebloom was not shocked by this sudden displacement. She simply felt tired. Super tired.

She got up from the bed and stretched herself out. Yawning, she popped her hind legs and back in several places. Then, throwing on her traditional bow, she walked out of her room.

As she walked down the stairs and came closer to the kitchen, she felt the typical sensations of a morning breakfast being made. She heard the sizzling of eggs and the beeping of some type of machine. From the smell, she realized that the machine in question had to have been a waffle maker. She saw the morning light in a haze, due to the steam coming from the kitchen. She smelt coffee. She could even taste the syrup in the air. Life was good.

Once she finally made it around the corner, she saw a sight that immediately caused her to wake up.

"GILDA!" Applebloom screamed as she approached the giant griffon. She rushed Gilda who was sitting at the far in of the table and seized Gilda in an unbreakable hug. The Griffon smiled like a mother and returned the hug with equal force. She was expecting somewhat of an enormous reaction.

Apple Bloom looked up into Gilda's eyes. Gilda noticed that Apple Bloom's eyes were glazed over with tears of joy. She was so happy to see you again.

"I didn't know what happened to you," Apple Bloom cried and blubbered over quickly. "We thought you had disappeared. After Big Mac checked the room and noticed you were gone we all flipped out but he told us to wait and I didn't know what to do but I knew you would come back I just knew it iknewitiknewitiknewit-" Apple Bloom cried into Gilda's chest again.

"It's all right," Gilda whispered into Applebloom's ears. "It's all right."

Applejack trotted over and tapped Apple Bloom on the shoulder. "Apple Bloom, sweetie, your eggs or getting cold."

Being almost a teenager, the only thing that can soften and take the intensity off a really emotional moment, is hunger. "FOOD?" Applebloom proclaimed as she looked around the room. She finally spotted her plate at the other end of the table. "OH BOY!"

She rushed over and firmly sat herself down in the seat. Grabbing a fork, she quickly punctured the yolk of her egg and watched the runny fluid pored over. 'Over Easy. My favorite,' Applebloom thought to herself out loud. She cut the meat up a little more and then brought the egg up to her lips.

She ate it. 2 seconds later, she spat it out.

"Yuck," Applebloom proclaimed. "They've gotten cold."

"You were asleep for a long time Applebloom," Applejack proclaimed. "It's 10:30 am."

"10:30?" Apple Bloom proclaimed, shocked. "How in the world did I sleep that long?"

"You're a growing girl sugar," Applejack replied again. "You were up till 2:30 am last night & you needed your sleep." Applejack then looked towards her brother. "Macintosh, can you fetch some more eggs from the hen house?"

Big Mac nodded and then after kissing Gilda on the cheek, he left from the table and went outdoors.

AJ looked behind herself. "I bet the waffles have gotten cold as well." AJ then walked over and kissed Applebloom on the cheek. "Don't worry baby," she said. "I'll fix ya some new waffles." She walked over to the fridge and grabbed the left over batter that was contained in a plastic green bowl. She carried it to the waffle maker and didn't turn around for a long time as she prepared the strawberries to place in the batter. Applebloom loved strawberry waffles.

Meanwhile, Applebloom poured herself a glass of orange juice. As she looked down, she noticed a newspaper coming into her peripheral vision. She focused on that.

…She was speechless.

The cover of the newspaper showed an artist's rendition of a masked vigilante. It wore a green trench coat and although the facial features were mostly darkened out, a beak came into view from out of the hoodie. The figure bore a striking resemblance to Gilda. The title in black bold font proclaimed "Children Saved by Hooded Savior."

Applebloom locked up into Gilda's eyes. She was flabbergasted. She breathed heavily but in short and quite breathes. Her eyes screamed to Gilda 'what does this mean?'

Gilda answered in whisper. "You were right."

Applebloom closed her eyes and placed a hoof to her mouth. She wept greatly. Tears rolled over her cheeks like rain. She looked back up at Gilda, and the griffon placed one talon over her beak, in the 'keep quite' symbol.

Applebloom understood the message. Every superhero had a secrete identity. Don't tell Applejack.

When Applejack approached the table, she noticed that Applebloom's eyes were somewhat bloodshot and teary. "You all right sweetie?"

"Fine," Applebloom replied. "I'm just tired."

But everything wasn't fine. A great change had taken place in Applebloom's life. Gilda was no longer her surrogate sister.

She was her hero.

* * *

Two days passed by and the world just kept on turning like it usually did. Thankfully for Gilda, a usual day no longer contained the sadness that it did before. Now, in place of that sense of disturbance, there was a newfound sense of wonder and direction in her life. She had a purpose. She was called to supply hope and security. She had not only a job, but a life style.

And it was kept a complete secrete for two days.

The day after the supposed 'hooded savior,' rescued the two fillies from the clutches of the house intruder, the masked vigilante was spotted yet again. This time, the figure (which was confirmed by that point to be a female) stopped a would-be mugging in a back alley way beside the train station at Ponyville. The white-mane, blonde colored pony whom she saved, gave her the ultimate blessing. Quote; "I hope she saves another soon. We need ponies like her. I hope she never goes away."

The lady's wish came true when the day after that, the masked vigilante caught and apprehended two jewelry thieves who had been on a streak of home invasions for the past two weeks. Their streak ended when the mysterious hero caught them outside a house just a few blocks away from the Ponyville train station. What they reported to the police was that one minute, they were robbing a house, and in the next minute, there before them stood this giant dark massive shadow. Next thing they knew, they were waking up in a police station, wondering what the buck just happened and why their heads hurt so much.

Gilda always felt a sense of accomplishment after apprehending the thieves or the thugs. However, she never felt pride. She was not boastful of her actions. A Superhero's life was that of intimate privacy. In a way, becoming a superhero was like having a diary. All the actions that she preformed were written out the next day, but only she knew what really went down. It was all her secrete.

She had a full proof plan that she was preparing to use for the rest of her life, had in not been for an unfortunate set of circumstances to fall upon her. The plan was, at 9:30pm, she would sex up Big Mac something fierce to the point that the poor stallion was almost falling asleep cross-eyed. Then, at around midnight, the griffon would sneak out of her lover's embrace and dawn her poncho to head to the Ponyville train station. At 2:00am the latest, she would be back home. And for two days, that's exactly how it went and everypony within her group of friends (the mane 5 and the Apple family) was left clueless as to what was actually happening.

And then one day, a letter came in the mail.

* * *

Dear Gilda & Friends,

As you all know, the newest 'masked vigilante' to hit the streets of Ponyville has captured the attention of many as well as myself. It is even more of an object of curiosity for myself, knowing that our dear Gilda is the hero in question. I am happy just to know that Gilda has found her place in this world. Not many ponies don't have that privilege. Some of us even loose are place in society these days. We were trained to believe that as soon as we received our cutie marks our lives would be set from then on out. We got only minor or minimal education, and for some, as soon as we found our destiny, we worked hard to perfect it. My destiny involved magic of some sort, and at first I thought I had found my place as Celestia's right hand student.

But then I lost my place. I felt scared and burden and that was when I tried ending it all. You all remember that day vividly. I only wish I would've been a little more polite to you all. My attitude and my actions proved to be rude and unloving, and for that, I'm sorry.

For years, I searched for purpose. I searched in the one source that provided me comfort; comic books. I developed a theory that many thought was crazy. I know have the knowledge, pleasure, and peace of mind knowing that I was correct all along. Those years of torment weren't for nothing. I hope Gilda is happy about where she is.

Because this is for certain, and I promise I'll say this again to you all soon. Now that Gilda knows who she is, I know who I am now. I have only her to thank.

And so, to express my gratitude, I am personally inviting you all to my grand opening of my comic book art gallery. You all know it as "Limited Addition." Food and Drink will be served and an auction will be held later for some of the pieces. The theme of that night is 'Rouges Gallery.' Because every good hero needs a good villain.

Yours truly,

Twilight Sparkle.

* * *

The aura of the grand opening surrounding Gilda and her friends was awkward to say the least. Knowing that Gilda was now some kind o superhero put a strange feeling inside all of their hearts; including Gilda's. She had no intention of letting anyone find out who she really was. Her biggest concern was Big Mac. For two nights, she ditched the side of his bed and left him alone for two hours. How could he bear to stand next to her after that?

Big Mac surprised Gilda, when after the news was revealed, he gave her a giant kiss; proclaiming "I'm proud that you know who you are know. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

And so, that's how all of Gilda's friends ended up coming with her to the grand opening to stand by her side and show their support.

At one point, Gilda found herself staring at a particular 'piece of art.' The hero in question looked like a typical superhero. There was a definitive jaw line, rippled muscles, and a suit colored in bright pastels. But the villain struck her as odd. He had no amazingly stand out features to speak of. His clothes were normal. His facial expression was blasé. In fact, he appeared to be scrawny.

After a while, Gilda felt someone trot up next to her.

"That there is a definitive piece of work from the late great 'Jackal Kirby,'" the voice spoke. It was obviously male and had a scratchy/smoky quality to it. "He was known for being the first artist to pertain absolute realism in his works."

Gilda pointed at the painting. "The villain doesn't look very menacing."

"That's what I tell Twilly all the time," the voice spoke again. "But she tells me I don't pay attention enough. She says there are two kinds of villains. There is the archetypal villain which fights the hero with its body. Then there's the arch villain that fights the hero with its mind. It plays games with the hero's mentality and spirituality. In the end, the hero and the villain both not only are at ends with each other, but need each other. Ying and Yang as it were."

Gilda turned to face this conversationalist. He was a white stallion with a blue-stripped mane. Anyone who was Anyone knew who this delightful being was. After all, one trembles in the presence of authority. Gilda's heart however remained at a steady pace; even though she was standing in the presence of royalty.

"You must be Prince Shinning Amor," Gilda stated. She held out her talon, waiting eagerly for it to be shaken. "I'm Gilda Griffon."

Shinning Armor's face brightened when he shook Gilda's hand. "Ahh, so now I finally meet you," he proclaimed. "Twilight's told me all about you. Seems to me that she has a new friend in her life."

"Yep," Gilda agreed as she looked over her left shoulder and noticed Twilight talking to a group of investors. She still sat down in her wheel chair. Gilda could sense something different about Twilight though. She did appear to be happier, but happy wasn't the right word to describe it…maybe it was 'driven?' "We get along very well."

"It's good to hear that," Shinning Armor proclaimed. Then, staring off into the distance of his mind, he whispered, "She's been through a lot….."

Shinning Armor physically shook his head to snap himself out of that trance. He smiled towards Gilda and said, "I'll go get Twilight for you. She said she's got something to discuss with you and your friends."

* * *

Twilight Sparkle rolled her wheelchair down the ramp which led into the office. Gilda, Shinning Armor, and the rest of the mane 6 followed in behind. This was the same office that Gilda and Applebloom sat in on that now historic day; the day where Twilight revealed her theory which ultimately started Gilda down the path that was narrowing down today. She felt a strong sense of closure being in this room. Everything was coming full circle.

The lavender pony rolled up to her desk and picked up the newspaper. She rotated towards her guest and held the headline out in front of them. The mane 6, Shinning Armor, and Gilda all got a good look at the picture on the page. Shinning Armor wasn't clueless as to what this meant. He knew of his sister's theory for a long time, and during the whole occasion between Gilda and Twilight, he had pleaded with his sister to seek mental help. But now that she had proven herself correct, all that Shinning Armor could do was just smile & laugh at how un-smug twilight was in her actions.

"It has begun," Twilight said in an almost empty-sounding voice. The impact of the words however, provided all the space where emptiness would've been. She placed the newspaper down, looked back into Gilda's eyes, and spoke directly to her. "Let me ask you something. When you woke up this morning, was it still there? The sadness?"

Gilda smiled. "No, and I don't think it will be for a long time."

"It was a shock to most of us," Applejack stated aloud. "But I think we can handle it. You're right Twilight, the world needs hero's like Gilda."

Twilight cocked a brow. "None of you suspected a thing?"

Big Mac sighed. "I did somewhat. Although I never had proof, I felt a strange sensation….like….every time me and Gilda touched, I got a strange headache soon after."

Gilda's curiosity was sparked. She turned to her lover. "What was the headache like?"

"Huh," Big Mac responded.

Gilda gripped Big Mac's shoulders. Something was nagging inside Gilda's psyche and she had to itch that scratch. "The headache. What happened during the headache? Did it feel like a normal headache?"

"No, it was nothing at all like a normal headache," Big Mac explained. "It would be a sharp blinding pain. There was a bright light, a loud noise, and then…nothing. It went as quick as soon as it came."

Gilda's face caught Big Mac's attention. The eyes were wide. Her beak was almost touching the floor. She was astounded.

"What's wrong?" Macintosh asked worryingly.

From the floor, Twilight spoke. "Would you say that instinctually, you knew something was up with Gilda?"

Big Mac made eye contact with the purple unicorn. "I suppose so, yes."

Twilight smiled. Gilda turned to Twilight and noticed the grin starting to stretch out. Most of the guests in the room were clueless as to what was going on. But, in typical Twilight fashion, Twilight had a theory.

"Gilda, your powers," Twilight began, "Have you done anything to harness them, control them, test them?"

"No," Gilda responded breathlessly.

"I suppose now would be a good time to do so," Twilight spoke as she strolled toward Gilda. "As I stated in my letter, 'all would be revealed.'"

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked from the back. "What's going on?"

Gilda knew some of the situation and decided to fill in the holes that the rest of the guest needed filling in on. "My powers are not my real powers. Yes, I can take tremendous amounts of physical extension and not be injured, but that is not my true powers. Twilight explained this to me at the Filidelphia Eagles game that me and Dash went to."

"Wait," Rainbow Dash piped up, now being thrown into the mix. "Are you talking about the instincts?"

"Exactly," Twilight answered. Then she addressed the crowd. "See, all comic book superhero's have regular superpowers, such as strength, flight, and so on, but each character has a personal power that's there's to master. Supermare had lazer vision, the Silver Stallion could manipulate space, time, and ice, and for Gilda here, I believe that she possessed supernatural powers of observation."

"Wait….you mean she's psychic?" Shinning Armor asked confused.

"Indeed she is," Twilight said happily. "With a physical touch, she can tell if a pony has done something wrong or not. As Gilda explained, after touching someone who had done wrong, she would receive a headache-"

Big Mac interrupted Twilight, finally connecting the dots. "Just like my headaches?"

"Exactly like your headache's," Gilda confirmed. She then looked back down to Twilight. There was a brief silence that followed. It filled the room with tension. "What the buck is going on?" The griffon asked breathlessly.

Twilight looked towards the ground, "After you left the hypnotherapist's office in Manehatten," Twilight began, "I suspected something about your powers. I was wondering how exactly you got them. For all intensive purposes, yes, you were chosen. Why? To protect ponies of course. But why exactly you? And why instincts? Everypony has instincts, but not many follow them. If they had your guidance, they probably would. And then I thought about the use of your powers? Was it possible that they could be transferred? Could you give another pony a vision?"

Gilda's brain audibly made a dinging noise as she mentally connected the dots. "You think I was giving Big Mac my vision's every time we physically made contact?"

"Yes," Twilight spoke. A momentary pause followed soon after. The room was quiet again. Twilight said what needed to be said, and that was why she was silent.

Gilda was intrigued. "How could we test this?"

"No need to," Twilight said with a smile. "As my letter said, all will be revealed soon." She then locked eyes with Gilda. The griffon noticed something strange about her eyes. They didn't pose as anything sinister, yet Gilda was frightened somewhat. She felt a lingering sense of hesitation and fear. But why?

Twilight held out her hoof. "I believe this is where we shake and go are separate ways."

Gilda smiled. The book of her life was wrapping up nicely. This chapter was coming towards a happy resolution. The long and winding road was coming to an end. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed Twilight's hand. They shook eagerly, with a solemn exchange of knowing how much they been through and happy to know that it was finally all ove-

HOT! Hot hot hot hot! Searing white blinding pain filled her entire skull. She heard screams, flames and multiple other noises that ached her very spiritual being with fear. She couldn't even hear Big Mac back in the real world ask her 'What's wrong?'

The visions simply took over.

The first vision was at a Zeppelin landing field. For some reason, everypony was colored in black-and-white. In her vision, Gilda saw the monstrous zeppelin slowly start to descend from the sky. Out of nowhere, the entire blimp became yellow, and Gilda suddenly realized what she was witnessing. She was watching the terrible tragedy of the Zeppelin crash that happened a few years ago. The Zeppelin was on fire and everypony was screaming and running.

All but one.

One pony in this vision, was not affected with black –and – white coloring scheme. She remained perfectly still and visible. She watched with a blankness expression as the Zeppelin bursted into flames. There was no emotion within her eyes as she vicariously witnessed mother's and daughters being burned alive.

The one silent pony, was a unicorn….and she was purple.

Gilda suddenly heard Twilight's words that she spoke on the first day Gilda came into her office. "Equestria has seen its share of disasters," Twilight commented. "There's the infamous Zeppelin incident in which thousands of passengers died in an explosion as the Zeppelin began to land."

The Twilight Sparkle in Gilda's vision turned abruptly, and walked away. The voiceover continued. "Morbid I know, but there's more."

Then suddenly, the vision that Gilda witnessed faded to white and was replaced by another vision. In this vision, everything was in color. It was taking place in a bar, and Gilda noticed Twilight was sitting at the bar with an older looking Stallion. He had a grey coat and a black mane. He appeared to be almost ancient. Gilda overhead the two speaking in her vision.

"I've worked at the Applelossa water plant for years. I know all its secretes," the grey stallion in Gilda's vision announced.

It appeared that the Twilight in this vision was intrigued. "Secretes?" Twilight stated.

The grey stallion leaned into Twilight's ear and began to whisper. "If someone were to take out four bolts on the back left leg of the water tower….the weight from the water would eventually cause the tower to lean and within three days, the entire water tower would collapse, and everyone in Applelossa would be buried alive. The whole town would be submerged."

The audio of Gilda's vision changed, but the picture remained the same. As the grey stallion and Twilight clicked glasses and swallowed their drinks, Gilda heard the sound of rushing water, and also heard the screams of men, women, and children as they all drowned. Suddenly, the voice over from Twilight Sparkle came through as she said "There's the random collapse of the Applelossa water tower which flooded the town and took the lives of several hundred ponies and buffalo."

Without warning, Gilda received another vision. Just like last time, the previous vision faded to white, and Gilda found herself at a new place at a new time. Gilda's heart dropped when she noticed she was at a train station. She began to panic when she recognized that it was the Fillydelphia train-station. She was facing the front of a train, and watched as the conductor walked from the walkway up to the engine room.

Stepping from out of the driver's seat was Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight, with crutches on both front legs, wobbled passed the number of the train….and Gilda's world stopped.

It was train 411. The same train that Gilda was on. The train that flipped and killed millions of ponies.

And Twilight was the reason why it happened.

Suddenly, Gilda found herself back in reality. She gasped as she tried to take all the air back into her lungs. Big Mac leaned over and held his girl tightly. "Gilda? Gilda, what's the matter?'" he said gently; unsure of what was happening and why it was happening.

Gilda stared at Twilight Sparkle wide eyed. Gilda knew what these visions meant….but she couldn't believe it. Twilight didn't look like the type of pony to hurt any pony. But as Twilight turned around slowly, placing her back towards Gilda's eyes, Gilda knew that the lavender unicorn was hiding some hideous dark secret.

Gilda finally found out what that dark secret was.

Twilight was responsible for the death of millions of innocent creatures…..

…..but for what?

Big Mac still held Gilda tightly. Gilda looked over into her lover's eyes and felt a strong conviction. He had to see what she just saw. He had to know the things that she knew know. And so, placing her talons loosely on his face, Gilda focused all of her willpower into placing her thoughts into his head, hoping desperately that something would happen.

Then, suddenly, Big Mac became noticeably weak. His legs started to tremble and before anyone could react, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he wobbled violently over to the wall. Everyone rushed over to make sure if he was all right. He came back to reality soon after. He leaned against the wall for support.

He breathed heavily just like Gilda. His eyes were wide just like Gilda's. And just like Gilda, he demanded answers….

"Gilda….did I see what you saw?" He asked shocked and confused.

Gilda, completely voiceless from her distress, nodded her head.

"….What did you see?" Big Mac asked desperately. He just couldn't believe it.

Gilda slowly lifted up her talon. With the most morbid expression possible, she pointed at Twilight Sparkle.

Applejack watched all of this unfold before her, flabbergasted. "Twilight…what the heck is going on?"

At that point, the unicorn looked up at her older brother, who was equally shocked by what was happening before him, and she spoke with a tone that was a paradox within itself. It was hollow and empty, as if she were sad. But it also contained strong sense of certainty.

"Big Brother," Twilight began. "Would you go to the closet? There's something there that you need to see."

Without fully understanding yet without asking why, Shinning Armor trotted to the closet which laid on the far left side of the room. The gang, with the exception of Twilight Sparkle, all watched as Shinning Armor opened the closet. As soon as the door opened, the stallion stood motionless for what seemed like eternity; staring into the black void of the closet.

Then, he snapped.

"WHAT THE BUCK IS THIS!"

He came back towards his sister with a device in his hand. It was large, metallic, and it gave off a threatening aurora, much like the one Shinning Armor was giving off.

"TWILLY, WHAT IS THIS?!" He practically screamed.

Twilight didn't even look him in the eye. "Those are the parts needed in order to assemble bombs. I used them on the Zeppelin a long time ago, that one is a left over."

Silence filled the room as Shining Armor stood motionless, shocked, and completely brain dead. It seemed as though he mentally took a vacation the minute Twilight was done with her response. Gilda was on the verge of losing her mind herself. The gang was shocked and on edge. The question on everyone's mind was one word….why?

Twilight, still looking away, provided the answer.

"You want to know what the scariest thing is," Twilight said solemnly and with no vicious content. "To not know your place in this world….to not know why you're here….It's just an awful feeling."

A small tear trickled down Shinning Armor's eye. Gilda breathlessly spoke, "What have you done?"

"I almost gave up hope," Twilight stated. At that point, Gilda began to cry as well. She still didn't get it, but now she knew the true danger of what Twilight Sparkle was. "There was so many times that I questioned myself,"

"You killed them all….you hurt innocent souls," Gilda spoke in a low whisper as she realized she was on the verge of going faint.

Twilight smiled. "But I found you….so many sacrifices, just to find you."

And then it clicked. It clicked for everyone in the room at that point. The letter in the mail made more sense. The cryptic messages that Twilight said became crystal clear. It was single handedly the worst possible outcome of this situation. It was something that no one expected, yet everyone feared.

Twilight turned around and faced the group. Her eyes were shrink wrapped with tears of joy as she smiled greatly. Her eyes locked onto Gilda's once more, and she repeated a phrase she wrote down in her invitation; one that now invoked fear and sorrow.

"Now that we know who you are… I know who I am."

Gilda felt ill. She started to back away slowly. Every muscle in her body felt as though it was replaced by led. Her heart felt like it was going to break. As she walked away, as she passed her friends who were just as shocked as she was, Twilight Sparkle said the words that firmly established her destiny….forever.

"I'm not a mistake," Twilight cried. "It all makes sense. Every superhero needs a villain. In a comic, you know how you can tell who the arch villain is going to be? He or she is the exact opposite of the hero, and most times they're friends like you and me. I told you we were on the same spectrum, just on opposite ends." At this point, she tried standing up from her chair. "If you're the good guy, then I'm the bad guy. You found your destiny, and now I've found mine. But I've should've known Gilda. I'VE SHOULD OF KNOW ALL THIS TIME!"

Her legs suddenly gave out and the loud snap of her bones breaking was heard by everypony. All of the mane 5 gasped, and Shinning Armor rushed to his sister. Although she cried into her shoulder, the words she spoke could be decoded by everypony in the room. "There were so many hints….so many clues…but the biggest sign happened to me when I was a kid. Remember brother?"

And then she looked into his eyes, and Shinning Armor's heart broke. This was the same baby that he held in the hospital all those years ago. The broken limbs were still there, but they were now inside her mind. She was lost and gone forever. Innocence was lost. Destiny had claimed its victim, and Shinning Armor was to suffer this for the rest of his life, as his sister said those final words that established her place as the villain of this story.

"The Kids in school…They called me 'the mare of glass bones.'"

Shinning Armor cried as he reached for the handcuffs in his pocket as he apprehended his own blood.


End file.
